Gilbert, Arizona

CHAPTER III

Farming H omesteaders began farming in the Gilbert area as soon as they could dig a small ditch from their land back to a canal in the Mesa area. Mesa began tapping into the water of the Salt River in 1877, when the Lehi pioneers settled along the Salt River. They dug out the old Indian canals, laterals, and ditches used hundreds of years before. Jack Swilling started the first canal company in Phoenix in 1865. He was the first white man to open the old Hohokam waterways to bring water to the early farms. Even before Swilling’s venture, farmers were cultivating the alfalfa that grew naturally around the Salt River bottom in Phoenix.

The first water brought to a Gilbert farm came by way of a ditch four-and-a-half miles long. It was dug from Mesa to the John Anderson farm on the east side of present day Gilbert Road, and Mr. Anderson had obtained permission to hook onto the other farmer’s ditch. This was about 1892, as it took a great deal of time and effort to clear the desert of brush and cactus and prepare the land for farming. Doctor Chandler and his associates dug the Consolidated Canal from Mesa through the Gilbert area. About 1893, they took water to what is now Chandler, Arizona. Dr. Chandler is credited with consolidating and improving the canals to make them more efficient. Prior to

k Man with team using a Fresno land scraper.

30