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<br />The Earl,. HistO:;L of Irrifation in Colorado,
<br />and the Doc ine of pproprlatlon.'
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<br />, Judge A.W. I4cHendrie
<br />Irrigation Attorney, Pueblo, Colorado
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<br />As a background for a brief discussion of the above subject,. permit
<br />me to suggest that throughout the world the histor;y of civilization ie
<br />the bistor;y of irrigation. " ' , ,
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<br />When pT1mitive man first emerged from savager;y, oeased to live a '
<br />nomadio lUe, dependent upon the slaughter of animals and upon wild
<br />:fruits and vegetablee, for subsistenos, the cultivation and,coneervation
<br />of these vegetable pToduots was the first step in his upl'1ard journey.
<br />This ,in turn was based upon the art:U'icial application of water in the
<br />irrigation of those crops. This was true because the first attempts
<br />along this line were con.t'ined to the more salubrious and gentle climates
<br />of the semiarid regions. The researoh and study of pTshistorio civiliza-
<br />tion by studente, eoholars and archaeologists have defin1tel,. establish-
<br />ed ~t for oenturies before the beginning of reoorded histor,., irriga-
<br />tion of 'Vll8t areas of land for the support of a large population, was
<br />the baeis of food pToduotion for the majOr portion of the then'inhab-
<br />itants of the glObe. ' In the valleys of the Nile, the Euphrates and
<br />other large streams, irrigation was pTaotioed on a tremendous soale at
<br />leaet 2,000 years before the birth of Chriet. In the Valle,. of the NUe
<br />alone, there then eJlisted irrigation syst.eins of canale and reeervoir'll
<br />more extellsive, perhape, than 'any suoh ,s,.stSllle in operation to-da,.. It
<br />ie known that this,oivilization perisbed'beoause of some impairment or
<br />failure of the water suppl,., what occasions thie failure ie wholl,. a
<br />, matter ot speculation and oonjeoture.
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<br />In 8I1T event' it is known that the praotioe of irrigated agriculture
<br />was transmitted b;y the Moors ,to Spain, "nd in turn by the Spaniards to
<br />the Weetern hemisphere in their oonquest ,of this ,continent following its
<br />disoover;y b;y ColU/ll\l11s. The Spanish oonquistadores brought the experience,
<br />knowledge and practios of irrigation to the eouthern portion of North
<br />Amerioa,. a1.though these pioneers found in- their first explorations in
<br />, tbat region, tribes or Pueblo Indians, the succesaors of oliffdIVellers,
<br />depending upon irrigation for tha pToduotion of a major part of their
<br />, food.
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<br />And partioularly oonneoted with the present consideration, the
<br />Spaniards,oonstruoted and suooes~y operated irrigation'works in
<br />whet is now the. state of New Mexioo; III81l7 ;years before ,the Pilgrilll
<br />Fathers landsd at PlymoUth Rock, and the desoendants of those hardy and
<br />enterprising pioneers in turn brought irrigation to Colorado. "
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<br />In passing, it might be observed that it is and always has been,
<br />oOlU/llOn 'knowle'dge, thet the suocessful growing or crops depends upon the
<br />application to t~se orops, of moisture, either b;y natural preoipitation
<br />or b;y the ,art:U'icial application of water to fertile lands b;y means of
<br />irrigation. As a oonvsnient yard stick for the land require/JlSnts of
<br />water supply., some 'students have divided the land areas into four major
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