TROUBLE WITH THE CHANNEL OF THE RIO GRANDE. 17

to construct it by private enterprise; and for these reasons: It i international, in the first place, and it would be hard to get a chartei from the two Governments that would sufficiently secure the investors in their rights to dividends. In our country it is very feasible, because here they can take a lien on the land for the money invested. In Mexico, however, it is different. The proprietors of this enterprise would necessarily be Americans, and there would be that doubt on the part of Mexico and on the part of the investors that they were fairly dealt with. Then, to control the boundary, I do not see how private individuals could do that.

The CHAIRMAN. Could not the Government sell the 100,000 acres of land that would be brought under cultivation by the dam?

Major MILLS. Yes, that would be true in Mexico; but in the State of Texas, where we own all the land, it would be different. There is in Texas very little vacant land belonging to the Government.

The CHAIRMAN. Could we not sell the water right? Suppose there were 100,000 acres brought under cultivation on the Texas side. That is valueless now; but with water on it it would be valuable, worth from $25 to $100 an acre. Could not the persons who occupy that land well afford to pay something for the water right?

Major MILLS. They would be willing to do it, I dare say.

The CHAIRMAN. On the Mexican side, where they have had water, it would not be fair to charge them; but where they reclaim new land, they might. And on the United States side it would be the same.

Major MILLS. That land would be the best land, according to my experience. Lately I have been in southern California, and I think you will bear me out that around Los Angeles the upper lands are better than the bottom lands because they can be irrigated without overflowing. Then they are not so heavy. So that these new lands would be more valuable than the old lands.

The CHAIRMAN. Would it be practicable for you, after having made the surveys and ascertained who owned the land, to get a proposition from the land owners stating how much they would pay for permanent water rights if the water were brought in by the Government?

Major MILLS. That would be practicable, to some extent. I surveyed 50 acres of land here for Mr. Hamburg, of Sau Antonio. Now it is owned by Mr. Dodge, of New York City. Mr. Heldt showed me his tax receipts. They were for large tracts of land in Mexico, but he does not know it. General Dodge is probably paying taxes on 75 acres of land over on the other side of the Rio Grande belonging to the Mexicans. This map was finished but a few days ago.

The CHAIRMAN. If the Government should run the water over the dam, you would not let it go out until it was paid for?

Major MILLS. My idea would be for the Government to build the dam, build the reservoir, change the railroad, and provide how that water should be disposed of, and turn it over to a private corporation thereafter. That could be arranged.

The CHAIRMAN. If there are 100,000 acres to be redeemed, the land reclaimed would pay the cost two or three times over at $25 or $30 an

acre.

Major MILLS. Mr. Follett tells me that it is impossible for him to get up an estimate to rely on for changing the road. It will cost from $800,000 to $1,000,000 to complete the work, but that is merely a guess; it may not cost $600,000.

The CHAIRMAN. That would be $10 an acre for 100,000 acres? Major MILLS. Then the water power would be there, and the climate, 138 A L-VOL III——2

by the presence of this vast amount of water, would be changed. But that is problematical; we can not tell about that.

The CHAIRMAN. It is not problematical-covering the soil with veg. etation would make the climate more healthful, and make the atmosphere more damp.

Major MILLS. I feel a great enthusiasm in the project. I believe it practicable, and I believe the country sufficiently progressive to build a dam, and have no doubt it will be built in the next few years.

Senator REAGAN. What is the fall of the river above this dam, and for some distance up?

Major MILLS. The river generally averages 4 feet to the mile for 50 miles above and below here. Strange to say, there is a greater fall in the valley than there was in the pass. That was a surprise to me. In the rapids the fall is less than where the river takes this turn here. Senator REAGAN. There are table lands lying east? Major MILLS. Yes.

Senator REAGAN. Is there any water above where it could be taken out on that table-land?

Major MILLS. I am not sufficiently posted to state that. I suppose there is, by making a high dam.

Senator REAGAN. How far down below this do you estimate that the channel of the river can be controlled by the construction of this dam? Major MILLS. I am quite sure if the dam should be constructed with the vast quantity of water that it would hold, the river could, in a degree, be controlled to the Gulf, and absolutely controlled to 100 miles to the cañon regions, because there is no confluence between this and 100 miles down. We would allow so much water to pass through the dam each day.

Senator REAGAN. What is the character of the valley?

Major MILLS. About 75 miles below, a little more-90 miles-below old Fort Quitman, the bluffs come in. These bluffs close in, and there is no valley land there.

Senator REAGAN. How far down does that cañon go?

Major MILLS. That runs down 100 miles.

Senator REAGAN. If you could control the bed of the river down to this cañon, no difficulty would arise. How much of the land that would be covered by the proposed reservoir is cultivated land?

Major MILLS. I do not think there is more than 500 or 600 acres. There is no cultivated land in the whole 26,000 acres that would be submerged, except a little colony called the Liunia. There is a town right there a settlement-and they have taken out a ditch. The ditch would cover probably 1,000 or 2,000 acres. There are probably only 500 or 1,000 acres under cultivation. That could be condemned, because it is not deemed valuable.

it?

Senator REAGAN. Are there any buildings or valuable structures on

Major MILLS. No.

Senator REAGAN. The marks here [pointing] indicate that the land has been taken up.

Major MILLS. It has been all taken up. Here [indicating] is a tract marked "State." That is school land. I think 1,000 acres belong to the State and to a great many individuals living here in the city. I own some myself.

Senator REAGAN. Is there any value fixed to that land?

Major MILLS. No. Some of it is sand-bars that you can not sell at any price. The other would be, if this project were carried out, the best

INTERNATIONAL COST AND CHARACTER OF THE DAM. 19

land in the country; but at the present time nobody would settle ou it. Something must be done to settle that land below. If you will ride from the city down on this or the other side you will see the trees perishing, and so with the vines; and this will continue to be the case until they have some water.

Senator REAGAN. Is there any current price on this land?

Major MILLS. I do not think there have been any sales in there; I have never heard of any. I have tried to sell mine, 100 acres in this tract [indicating]. I have owned it for thirty years. I tried to sell it, but could not do it. I offer to the committee a memorandum on the general character of the project:

INTERNATIONAL FEATURES-BOUNDARY-THE

RIVER JOINT

PROPERTY-VESTED

RIGHTS IN THE WATER, BY APPROPRIATION TO PRIOR USES. The lake covers an area of 26,270 acres, 16,830 being in Texas, all but about 1,000 acres (which is supposed to be State school lands) being patented to private parties; all that in New Mexico, 9,440 acres, except about 1,000 acres (which is supposed to be Government land), lies within two unconfirmed Spanish grants, "The Refugio Colony" and "The Francisco Garcia." The lake will be about 15 miles long by about 3 miles wide, and an average of 20 feet deep with a total capacity of 23,100,777,000 cubic feet of water; the capacity of the proposed reservoir of 10 feet on top will be 8,610,565,000 cubic feet.

Of the two proposed sites for the dam, one lies about 24 miles from the city and the other about 34 or about 14 miles apart. Relative merits, bed-rock, six outlet gatevalves of 4 feet carry 2,400 feet with 50-foot pressure, and a crest overflow 200 feet long by 4 feet deep will carry 7,400 feet, equal to 10,000 feet, sufficient with the storage to relieve any probable or possible flood from overflowing the dam.

The first measurements of flow were taken on May 20, showing 4,300 feet, and were continued until July 28, when it had been gradually reduced to 29 feet, and river ceased to flow August 5.

Measurements for evaporation have continued since May 10 with an average of about 10 inches per month.

Measurements of sediment continued during the flow since June 10, showing au average of .345 of 1 per cent of the water carried.

Approximate cost of the work.

Condemnation of the lands to be submerged ($160,000); reconstruction of 15 miles of the Santa Fé Railroad; reconstruction of 5 miles of the Southern Pacific Railroad; building of the dam, gate-valves, and waste-weir; approximate total cost of work, $321,000.

The committee here took a recess until 2 o'clock.
The committee re-assembled at 2 o'clock p. m.

FURTHER STATEMENT OF EDGAR B. BRONSON.

Senator Stewart made a statement to me this morning after the meeting of which he desired au explanation. It was with regard to the condition of the arid lands of western Texas. He wishes me to demonstrate the necessity or no for appropriations looking to the investigation of the resources of the country for reservoirs, dams, and that sort of thing. The CHAIRMAN. We want the facts to show whether it is necessary

or not.

Mr. BRONSON. In the region of western Texas, which might, perhaps, be defined by a line drawn north and south, through Colorado City, there are some few mountain chains. But the mountain chain is not a prevailing feature of the country; plains are the prevailing feature. The character of the country is such that the rain-fall is very light. On the mountains, though, it is very great. There are very few of these mountain ranges which have permanent streams, yet, in the rainy sea

son, they pour down torrents of water, and there are dams that would afford streams for irrigation. I speak of the great mesas lying to the west of Fort Davis. Along the Southern Pacific there is a mesa 1.50 to 200 miles long, averaging 30 to 80 miles wide. From the mountain ranges on the west side, in what Major Powell calls the torrential season, there are poured down great bodies of water, and there might be accumulated in reservoirs a sufficient quantity of those waters to irrigate an immense area of land.

The CHAIRMAN. Is that country occupied at all?

Mr. BRONSON. It is sparsely occupied along the railway. There are small settlements and nothing else, because no tillage is possible there. It would require a community of labor and organized capital to make the large reservoirs necessary to irrigate that great country. Apropos of that subject, you go on the plateau of southern Mexico where there is a dense population, where the country is under tillage in cotton and all varieties of crops, and there the conditions are the same as in western Texas. They have no streams, and the rain-fall is inadequate to make irrigation possible; and the result is what-what we are beginning to do here. The whole country is covered. Each has a dam which conserves the water which falls during the rainy season and is held and stored over to the period when cultivation is desired, when it is used in irrigation. I think, perhaps, there are some hundreds of square miles actually under tillage south of the city of Santiago, Mexico, under the system which is now proposed in western Texas. Í have seen it, and it is practically here as it is there. The rain-fall of that country is about as it is here. For instance, they take a region of country with a great drainage area behind it, a series of important hills or large range of mountains, and they bring several of the waterways together. The water is then brought down until it reaches a point where it is convenient to make a reservoir, and there they store the same. Those are the conditions of that country. When you get to the Texas Pan-Handle the conditions change from those you see here. There you have no range of mountains; the important ranges are sand hills, which are perfect sieves. But in almost the whole belt, or twothirds of the Pan-Handle, the water is found 5 to 56 feet deep in an inexhaustible supply, and the system there is pre-eminently a well system. The water lies near the surface, and it is inexpensive to raise it. But the country does not lay in such shape that reservoir irrigation may be practiced to any great extent. There are a few places, such as the head of the Yellow Horse Cañon and Yellow Fork. They begin with long dry ravines, and in those places it might be practicable to make your systems of dam storage. But it has always seemed to me, since I became familiar with Santiago, that the same thing could be practiced here in western Texas, and the country become as rich as any in the United States. I think I am safe in saying that one-third of the cotton raised in the Republic of Mexico is raised under that particular system of irrigation-fully a third of the cotton.

Senator REAGAN. Have you been acquainted with any place that is under cultivation by irrigation in Tom Green County or anywhere else? Mr. BRONSON. The Comanche Creek section, by Fort Stockton. It is at Fort Davis. That is the only place in western Texas outside of the valley.

Senator REAGAN. Do you know of any one here acquainted with the waters of the Colorado or Tom Green County?

Mr. BRONSON. It is there where irrigation is practiced to any extent. I understand there is a gentleman here who is familiar with some parts

STAKED PLAINS, TOPOGRAPHY AND WATER SUPPLY.

21

of that country, whether the particular parts to which you refer, I do not know. I am not familiar with it.

STATEMENT OF E. E. ROESLER OF DALLAS.

The CHAIRMAN. What is your occupation?

Mr. ROESLER. I am emigration agent for the Texas Pacific Railway, and I am also secretary of the Marienfeld Co-operative Fruit and Garden Irrigation Company.

The CHAIRMAN. Are you familiar with the topography of the country, the character of the land, and the other possibilities for irrigating portions of Texas?

Mr. ROESLER. Yes; I have made a special study of that since 1886. The CHAIRMAN. In what portions of Texas?

Mr. ROESLER. From the Brazos River almost to El Paso. What is known as the Staked Plains.

The CHAIRMAN. Go on and describe the character of the country, and state what the facilities are for irrigation.

Mr. ROESLER. Beginning at the Brazos River, which is at an altitude of about 900 feet, the country rises in steps toward the west. It is generally in the form of one plateau above another. So you proceed westward from Brazos River 20 or 30 miles, and you come to a bluff 200 or 300 feet in height, and above that is a plateau which extends 20 or 30 miles. The difference in altitude is from 150 to 300 feet in these plateaus. From west of the Colorado River the rain-fall is from 20 to 46 inches, with an average of 26, and in that country it has not been found necessary to irrigate, although it is found advisable with the garden crops, vegetables, and things of that description. They have been benefited by irrigation. On the Concho near San Angela there are about 5,000 acres under cultivation by irrigation, and all the waters are obtained from the North and Middle Concho Rivers. About 50 miles north of San Angela that river springs out of the ground. Above that there is no river, but simply an old river-bed that extends all of 300 miles across the country into New Mexico. In the north branch of the Concho River, which is known where it crosses the Texas Pacific Railroad as the Mustang, irrigation is considered necessary. We have an extraordinary farming section there, and we found since 1882 about the following:

In 1882 there was abundant rain-fall, and wheat made from 18 to 25 bushels; corn ran about 30 bushels, and the smail grains between 18 and 20 bushels. Vegetables of all sorts did well. In 1883 the crop was equally good. In 1884 they made about a half crop. This was all without irrigation. In 1885 there was an extra good crop. In 1886 there was a total failure. They planted all the seed wheat they had, put it in the ground five times, and lost every bit. In 1887 the failure was as great as in 1886. The result was that everybody became discouraged, and those who had money enough to leave the country left it; those who had not, staid. They then began to bore wells. In Martin, Howard, and Andrews Counties the farm land was increased in capacity to five or six times what it had formerly been. People bought wind-mills and erected small dirt tanks and went into fruit-raising. The result in the matter of fruit-raising has been very satisfactory. They find that every variety of grape that is grown in California will succeed there. They produce a raisin grape at least six weeks earlier than