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<br />zones, more or less arbitrarily, ,and of course overlapping and subjeot to
<br />Bome deviations of climatio oonditions. , They.~~e..<livided the regions in
<br />whioh agriculture is the basis of the occupiancy of ths land, into the arid,
<br />semi-arid, sub-humid and humid rsgions. The arid region is, roughly,
<br />that area where the average annual precipitation is less than 10 inches;
<br />in that region nothing of food value can be grown without the artificial
<br />application of water by irrigation. The sem1;..arid' region consists of ,
<br />those areas in whioh the average annual precipitatloit'is from 10 to 15
<br />inches; in those areas some food produots, suoh as pasturage for domestio
<br />animals, are grown without irrigation, but no substantial or dependable
<br />agrioul ture oan be oarried on without, irrigation. The sub-humid region
<br />is that area where the average annual precipitation is !'rom 15 to 20
<br />inches. In those areas many crops can be sucoessfully grown ,in most
<br />years, without irrigation. The humid region oonsists of that area where
<br />the average annual precipitation' is above 20 inohes. In those sreas, in,
<br />the tempsrate zone, praotioallyall fOOd orops can be euoceesful1y
<br />produced with only the natu>>al rain and 'anow fall. The sta~ of Colo-
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<br />rado, insofar as agriculture is a faoto~, liss within the semi-arid zone.
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<br />The hietory'of irrigation in Coloratlo oonsists in part of reoorded
<br />documentary evidenoe; in part, of the diaries, letters and articies
<br />written by early explorers and other oontemporary, and usually, temporary,
<br />sojourners in this region; also, ,in part;, we have the tales and traditions
<br />passed on from generation to generation .orally. Depending upon all of
<br />these sources of information, we oan be reasonably sure that we may draw
<br />a fairly aoourste pioture of the history[ of irrigation in,thie state,
<br />from whioh it will be noted that the his~ory'of the devel~pment and
<br />progrees of settlement and oivilization ~n ColoradO, follqws quite
<br />closely the world-wide pattern f'ued by the first oivUbeld inhabitants
<br />of the Orient. ! :
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<br />Coming more directly to the sUbjeot' of' this disoussicin, the first
<br />attempt at irrigation within ths present confines of' Col~do, by
<br />oivilized peoples, as diatinguished tram the prehistorio, ~~ts of the
<br />original De ti ves thereof, is an effort undertaken in ths ~ sr of 1767"
<br />In that summer when the founding f'athers o~ constitutional govsrnment
<br />were struggling in the City of Philadslphia to draft the Oonstitution
<br />of the United states of, America, one ,;Jusn Bautista de And (or Anzs),
<br />then Governor of the Spanish Provinos of' 'ie'/f Mexioo, known as the "Great
<br />colonizer," entered into a treaty with th J'Ilp8 tribe of Comanohe
<br />Indians. As a part of that program he se t a group' of some 20 Spanish
<br />farmers and artisans to initiate with thi' ,Indian tribe a oolony, !mown
<br />as "San Carlos de Jupss," on the banka of' 'ths, San Carlos or st. Charles
<br />River near its confluel1oe with the Arkansas River, thsn !mown as Nepesta,
<br />about 8 miles east of the present oity of Pueblo. TheSe men, with the'
<br />help of their Indian collaborators, constructsdsome twenty hOuses,
<br />broke up and put into oultivation a 1;a1rly large tract of land adjacent
<br />thereto, and built a ditch taking its water f'rOlll the river f'orthe
<br />irrigation at this traot. Documentary evidence of this oolonization
<br />projeot is extant in the arohives of 'early New lImco. 'rhe project,
<br />however, was not too succeseful. The Indians did not take kindly to
<br />living in the houses built f'or them" nor were they'enthusiastio over the
<br />manual labor involvsd in the cultivation and irrigation of crops. After
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