WSP08285

• File Number: 8221.108
• Description: Holbrook Project
• State: AZ
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Date: 3/1/1950
• Title: Report on Joseph City Unit - Holbrook Project Arizona
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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of soluble salts except where conditions are favorable to leaching. The
soils of much of the irrigated area contain sodium in quantities sufficient
to inhibit plant growth and impair soil tilth. Internal soil drainage is
generally poor. In places surface drainage likewise is poor and this
condition is aggravated by the highway and railway fills which intercept
normal drainage into the Little Colorado River.

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Settlement and Development of the Area

9. Settlement of the area first began in March 1876 when a company
of 73 colonists sent from Utah by the Mormon Church established Allen's
Camp on the north bank of the Little Colorado River at the approximate
site of Joseph City. As the semiarid conditions made irrigation essential
to growing crops and the food supply was short, action was taken promptly
to obtain irrigation water. The long battle for a water supply began with
the construction of a diversion dam in the river. The dam was completed
in June 1876 but was washed out by a flood the following month. Rebuild~
ing was necessary almost annually for many years. A more substantial
diversion structure was constructed at the Penzance site in 1894, which
remained until partially destroyed by a flood in 1915 and completely
washed out in 1923 after which it was replaced by the existing structure.
The second diversion dam, downstream, was constructed in 1902, and
replaced because of floods in 1917 and again in 1919.

10. Immediately upon establishment of Allen's Camp, articles of
agreement for the formation of a water organization were drawn up,
The agreement signed by all members of the camp was filed at Prescott,
capital of the territory of Arizona, in June 1876. It represents the first
claim to use of the waters of the Little Colorado River. The settlement
was originally established on a communal basis with community owner-
ship of all property, but with the construction of the railroad and the
subsequent growth of surrounding towns, dis satisfaction led to the
eventual dissolution of the organization and division of the property.
The articles of agreement were amended in June 1907, and the
St. Joseph Irrigation Company was formed. Filing of its articles of
incorporation in 1893 established the priority of the company's claim
to the use of Little Colorado River water. The division of the property
was reflected in the ownership of water shares in the company.

11. The population of the Joseph City community grew slowly from
the 73 original settlers, reached 151 in 1886 and an estimated 325 in
1946. Regardless of whether or not they are engaged in farming, almost
everyone in the area lives in the town, a common practice in Mormon
communities. Holbrook and Winslow, the nearest towns with appreciable
shopping facilities, had populations of 1,184 and 4,577, respectively, in
1940 but have grown considerably since then.

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12. The Joseph City area has good transportation facilities. The
main line of the Atchinson, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway extends through
the area and offers freight facilities. Passenger and additional freight
facilities are available in the town through several interstate bus and
truck lines. U. S. Highway 66, one of the principal transcontinental
highways of the Southwest, passes through the town. Several filling

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