Punta de Agua Punta de Agua, where Cienega Creek meets the Pantano Wash and the Cienega and Rillito Watersheds intersect, is just about 1 mile northeast of the Vail town site. In 1880, just before the Southern Pacific Railroad arrived at what would become Vail’s Siding; the location was described as a series of succeeding marshes full of native grasses by rancher Edward Vail. The lush location boasted water year round that would be used to irrigate the fields of homesteaders Carter Crane and John Fraker, then Cienega Ranch, and later, the orchards and farm fields of Rancho del Lago. And, still later the greens of Del Lago Golf Course. In 1880 at Vail’s Siding, just a mile southwest, no water was to be had. In 1896 mining in the Santa Rita Mountains to the south in the Helvetia Mining District brought a spike in Vail’s population from about 15 to 150. The Southern Pacific Railroad (SPRR) responded by building a cistern to supply water for their workers and from which water could be sold. When the water in the cistern got low a tanker car would arrive on the next train. Until the 1950s water was brought in by the SPRR. A tanker car filled with water continued to be stationed on a siding track to provide water for SPRR workers in the Section House, residents and the Vail school. Until 1992 those living between the railroad tracks trucked in their water. The town site of Vail didn’t have a well (between the railroad tracks) until 1992. The well was 612’ deep.
Posted on: Sun, 31 Aug 2014 20:01:56 +0000
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