History Of Buckeye

Although not widely known, the history of the Buckeye Canal reflects a dramatic story in the history and development of the arid regions of the American West. Land and water form the sum and substance of the history and those who sought to acquire private land and put scarce and unpredictable amounts of water on it for beneficial use formed the essence of this history.

The following history of the Buckeye Canal is written from a long personal knowledge and from talking with old timers that were here from the beginning and from old records that have lately come in my possession and are not on file with the historical paper of the Buckeye and West Gila Valley Old Settlers Union

On February 28th, 1907 articles of agreement were drawn up and presented to a mass meeting of the Valley farmers called at the Buckeye School House on March 2nd, 1907. The articles of agreement were read and discussed and voted upon by an acreage vote with the result that more than two-thirds of the acreage was in favor of ratifying the agreement.

Saturday, January 14th, 1950, was a big day with the farmers of the Buckeye Irrigation Company. The day they had been looking for, for the last 43 years, celebrating the fact that they were free of debt, something few canal companies of comparable size can say.