Walking along the Arizona Canal in the 1890s, Phoenix, Arizona


Walk with me along the Arizona Canal in the 1890s. It will be a long walk, nearly fifty miles, and it will begin east of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, which is east of Scottsdale, and it will end in Peoria.

The canal, which was privately funded, was dug by hand. In 1885 the only horsepower available was from horses, and mules. It's a gravity-fed system, as the water flows southwest, along the slight tilt of the Salt River Valley.

Falls on the Arizona Canal. Yes, it's still there, and yes, you can still visit it.

We are walking west. As we approach what will someday be 56th Street and Indian School Road, there is a waterfall on the canal. Looking south across the empty and dry valley, we imagine that some day there will be a city there. It seems a stretch of the imagination! Maybe farms, orchards, businesses, maybe even golf courses!

Thank you for walking with me.
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Comments

  1. pimanMay 25, 2015 at 4:52 PM

    What an effort to build the canal with the type of equipment they had available. The canals are amazing accomplishments with an unknown payoff.

    ReplyDelete

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