Sunday, April 22, 2012

Adobe on Curtis Road, Safford, AZ January 31, 2012

This adobe was one of my back road finds.  The road was named after the farming family who settled here.  Apparently this adobe structure was their first home.  This is one of the many families impacted by the Gila River Water Act.  Basically the Gila River Indians own the rights to half the water in Arizona.  They are the ones who dictate how much water is allocated to our Gila Valley.  All irrigation water comes out of metered water pumps.  The litigation concerning water rights between the red and white man has been going on for decades.  Cotton demands less water than alfalfa to grow and flourish.  One never knows what they’ll be able to grow even though a farmer might have ample time to know how much water is coming their way.  If one doesn’t have adequate water to grow what they may normally grow, then they have to learn to grow something else.  Possibly have to purchase new equipment to sow and harvest that particular crop.  According to the farmers, there is no end in sight for this water rights litigation to come to fruition.
A great deal of the roof was missing from the adobe structure.  It appeared that an adobe addition was added on to the structure.  There were a few sinks, stoves and possibly some kind of refrigerator left.  I wanted to leave a cowboy and indian icon art piece on one of the sinks in tribute to the Gila River Water Act.  However, the sinks were full of too much debris and such.  So I placed, photographed and documented #138 on a stove where the debris was minimal. 
When I was done all I could think about the upcoming local alfalfa hay crop.  Would there be enough moisture to sustain the crop or would I have to keep buying my expense hay from Colorado?  Right now I purchasing a Timothy mix hay (2 wire) at $15.00 a bale.  My horses will go through that size bale easily in less than a week.  Perhaps I might try doing some Native American “rain dance?”  Then there could be enough water for everybody!  Well, a girl can dream, huh?     
      

       

 


 
                      





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