   Celebrating The Verde River - September 18, 2002 Jeff Schalau, County Director, Agent, Agriculture & Natural Resources Arizona Cooperative Extension, Yavapai County We are very lucky to have the Verde River in our backyard. Not many Arizona rivers flow year-round and few are as handsome as the Verde. This strand of flowing water is a precious commodity in our arid environment and the river's amenities don't end at water's edge. The trees and thickets that compose the riparian corridor provide habitat for wildlife and shade for hikers along the Greenway. Multiple ditch diversions bring water to upland areas expanding the riparian habitat, irrigating pastures, and farm fields continuing the Verde Valley's agricultural heritage. The river is the Verde Valley's lifeblood, and human activities have shaped its history, so lets pay our respects. Sixty million years ago, the Verde started flowing south through Arizona's Central Highland region. Fifteen million years ago, the lava flow that caps the Black Hills dammed the ancestral Verde and created a large lake. Eight million years ago, the sediments began forming at the lake bottom to create the limestone layer that we see so prominently around Montezuma Well. Initially, the river flowed across a somewhat level valley floor, but as it cut downward, and faults lifted the Black Hills, the topography became steeper. Over time, the river blew out the lava dam, changed course creating Peck's Lake (a remnant oxbow), and sculpted the beautiful valley we see today. The Verde River watershed (basin) covers 6,646 square miles and the water that flows through it comes from winter snow, summer rain, and several springs. The perennial flow starts at Del Rio Springs in Chino Valley. From there it flows 125 miles before it reaches Horseshoe Dam. The Verde River has eight major tributaries: Sycamore Creek, Oak Creek, Beaver Creek, West Clear Creek, the East Verde River, Fossil Creek, Wet Bottom Creek, and Tangle Creek. The estimated average annual water yield of the Verde is 464,253 acre-feet or 151 billion gallons. I bet that didn't happen this year. Human habitation of the Verde Valley probably began as early as A.D. 1. The evidence of this was gathered from archeological sites near Perkinsville. Starting around A.D. 700, the Hohokam migrated to the Verde Valley, presumably from the Salt River Valley, They farmed and lived in pit houses. The Sinagua moved into the Verde Valley around A.D. 1100 and stayed until the early 1400s. The Hohokam and Sinagua developed many irrigation canals, a remnant of which can be seen near the picnic grounds at Montezuma Well. Between 1425 and 1860, the area was inhabited mostly by the Yavapais, Tonto Apaches, and a few Navajos. The Yavapai Apache Tribe reside in the Verde Valley today. Spanish explorers made a brief visits during 1593 (Antonio de Espejo), 1598 (Marcos Farfan de los Godos), and 1603 (Don Juan de Onato) to explore mineral deposits. They found no gold and the area was not easy to get to, so they apparently lost interest. Over 200 years passed before European and American trappers came to the Verde Valley between 1825 and 1830, among them, was young Kit Carson. In 1865, nine men came to the Verde Valley from Fort Whipple in Prescott to begin farming. Prescott needed food and they wanted to grow food crops and hay. They liked what they saw and brought others to join them. A crude dam was built and a diversion was created to irrigate crops of garden greens, melons, beans, corn, potatoes, wheat, and barley. Tension developed between the new settlers and the Yavapai and Tonto Apache. This motivated the army to create Fort Lincoln (later Fort Verde). Soldiers came to protect the new American settlers. The soldiers capture the tribal members and created an 800 square mile reservation near Cottonwood, which the Yavapai and Tonto farmed. In February 1875, the reservation was closed and the Indians were made to march to San Carlos. The long walk to San Carlos claimed almost 100 lives of the 1400 that went. The reservation land was subsequently divided up taken over by the white settlers. In 1876, prospectors rediscovered the copper deposit that would become the Town of Jerome. Railroads were also being developed during this period, which worked out well for the mines. Ranchers were also becoming more common in the Verde Valley. Many of the Verde Valley ranches were situated to take advantage of the high elevations at the top of the Mogollon Rim for summer forage and the valley floor during winter months. This layout is still evident on most of the ranches today. I suppose you are wondering what this topic has to do with gardening. The abbreviated history lesson is leading up to an invitation for you to join the festivities at Verde River Days all day on September 29 at Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood. Many community organizations will be there to help you appreciate today's Verde River. Cooperative Extension will be there with xeriscape information and water resource education. Hope to see you there! The University of Arizona Cooperative Extension has publications and information on water and its conservation. If you have other gardening questions, call the Master Gardener line in the Cottonwood office at 646-9113 or E-mail us at mgardener@verdeonline.com and be sure to include your address and phone number. Find past Backyard Gardener columns or submit column ideas at the Backyard Gardener web site: http://ag.arizona.edu/yavapai/anr/hort/byg/. |