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CANALS
If you live in chandler or Gilbert, I can with great certainty tell you that you are living among the spirits of those that passed on. You live in the midst of the ruins of the houses and fileds of the Hohokams. If your house and lot is not on top of a Hohokam village, it is part of the fields where they cultivated a variety of crops. All of that is now the Southwest valley, as well as parts of Tempe and central Phoenix were the site of the native american, pre-colombvian greastest engineering project north of Central mexicoo.
In 2005 during contruction of the light rail line in Tempe, a small Hohokam settlement was discovered next to Tempe Butte, around the La Plaza site. In 1994 a Hohokam site was discoved near the NW corner of 7th street and Washinston (Az Museum of Science and Technology).
The dates are vary incertain, but experts usually date the Hohokam civilization as having flourished between 400 (?) to about 1300, after which it enetered into rapid decline, having completele dissappeared by 1500. Wild guesses. Why did it vanish? Wars? Drought and famine? Disease? Did their farming methods destroy the land? who knows!
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A severe drought is thought to have marked the demise of these people, know as the "Ho Ho Kam", or 'the people who have gone.' Different groups of Indians inhabited the land of the Valley of the Sun after them.
In 1867 Jack Swilling of Wickenburg stopped to rest by the White Tank Mountains, and envisioned a place that, with just some water, looked like promising farm land. He organized the Swilling Irrigation Canal Company, and moved to the Valley. In 1868, as a result of his efforts, crops began to grow and Swilling's Mill became the name of the new area about four miles east of where Phoenix is today. Later, the name of the town was changed to Helling Mill, then Mill City. Swilling wanted to name the new place Stonewall after Stonewall Jackson. The name Phoenix was actually suggested by a man named Darrell Duppa, who is purported to have said "A new city will spring phoenix-like upon the ruins of a former civilization."
Phoenix became official on May 4, 1868 when an election precinct was formed here. The Post Office was established just over a month later on June 15. Jack Swilling was the Postmaster.
fter an initial failure in creating a highly developed system of irrigation, settlers in the area deepened the old Indian canals from the Salt River, producing lush fields of hay, grain, barley, pumpkins, and sweet potatoes for the surrounding villages, mining camps, and the military. Vulture Mine was discovered by Henry Wickenburg, and Maricopa County suddenly became a thriving area. Darrell Duppa, an Englishman, noting that a new civilization was rising from the ruins of an earlier Indian society, named the new town Phoenix after the mythical Phoenix bird that supposedly rose from the ashes.
The need for a dependable way to cross the Salt River became apparent to Charles Trumbull Hayden, who had built a mill by the river. So he put a ferry into service. The town that developed became known as Hayden's Ferry, but the name was later changed to Tempe.
The citizens of these early towns felt a need for a more local seat of government than the distant Prescott and petitioned the Legislature to create a new county. On February 14, 1871, the Territorial Legislature created Maricopa County from lands that were taken from Pima and Yavapai Counties. Phoenix, which was to become the final site of the Territorial Capital in 1889,
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Pregustoric Irrigation Canals, from a classic study by Dr Omar A. Turney. A legend across the bottom of the chart reads: Canal building in the Salt River Valley with a stone hoe held in the hand without a handle. These were the original engineers, the true pioneers, who built, used and abandoned a canal system when London and Paris were a cluster of mud huts.
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Ancient Canals Found at Arizona Construction Site
By The Associated Press
posted: 12 July 2005 10:21 am ET
PHOENIX (AP) -- Archaeologists working at a proposed development site in Mesa say they have unearthed one of the largest integrated canal systems the Hohokam Indians ever built in the Phoenix area.
Twenty Hohokam canals, uncovered during an ongoing archaeological survey of the 240-acre site, have been found since October. The largest measures 45 feet wide and 16 feet deep.
"They are the size of canals in Phoenix today, but these were done with digging sticks and baskets,'' said Tom Wilson, an archaeologist and director of the Mesa Southwest Museum. "There are some extraordinary things there.''
Other archaeological remains were also found, including a half-dozen pit houses and hundreds of pottery fragments and artifacts.
Historians believe the Hohokam lived in central and southern Arizona for about 1,500 years, sometime between 300 B.C. and A.D. 1400. They were a largely agricultural community known for their sophisticated canal systems.
The city could pay up to $250,000 for the archaeological study but would be reimbursed by the developers.
A portion of collected artifacts will be displayed at Banner Mesa Medical Center later this fall. And next May, the Mesa Southwest Museum will unveil a major Hohokam exhibit that will feature finds from the site, Wilson said.
The first gentleman was William John Murphy, a roadbed contractor who came to Arizona in the late 1880s through his work for the Santa Fe Railroad. When his railroad contract ended, W. J. Murphy won a contract to build the Arizona Canal, which today is where Arcadia residents converge to ride bicycles, jog or walk the dog. The project was to stretch 40 miles from Granite Reef Dam to New River and irrigate 100,000 acres.
Murphy realized the property below Camelback Mountain would be a good investment. He bought large tracts of land east of what is now 44th Street and Camelback Road for agricultural use and future settlement. Murphy planted a variety of trees, including fig, olive, pomegranate and orange. His secondary plan was to market portions of his purchase as a rural residential development with rows of citrus trees. Murphy's target audience were wealthy visitors from the East and Midwest who would build winter homes in each pre-planted mini orchard he sold them.
In 1909, to assist him in attracting buyers for his home lots, Murphy built Phoenix's first resort to give potential influential clients a place to stay. The lodge was named the Ingleside Club, and in later years boasted an 18-acre golf course and horse stables. Visitors to the Ingleside included Teddy Roosevelt, Will Rogers and members of the Vanderbilt family.
And keeping our lush landscapes green is not the only benefit Arcadia residents derive from its proximity to water supplies. The dividing line between north and south Arcadia is the Arizona Canal along Indian School Road. During construction of the canal, a large rock ridge at what would be between 56th and 58th Streets was impossible to dig through. So they left the ledge as it was right in the canal's path and just let the water flow over it, creating a 15-20 foot waterfall. The spot was called Arizona Falls and became a popular gathering spot for residents. There, in 1902, the first hydroelectric plant in Phoenix was built to utilize the force of the falling water. The plant was rebuilt by SRP in 1911 and continued to deliver power until it was shut down in 1950.
For fifty years, Arizona Falls was almost forgotten until June 2003, when SRP reopened the once-again rebuilt power plant. Visitors come to enjoy the soothing sound and sight of the cascading flow. Antique gears from the original plant can be viewed through sheets of falling, clear water. Three walls of liquid from two aqueducts form a room around shaded stone seats where one can sit and feel as if they are inside the waterfall. Arizona Falls generates 750 kilowatts of clean, renewable electricity (enough to power 150 homes) that is fed into SRP's grid system.
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