Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1874-09-03

cant land. and in q short time the whole val!
ley became occupied. Besides this a colonial
| scheme wls devised ut Fort Collins, % miles
above Greeley, which included the taking out
of large canal. and, in addition, another
| large canal has been taken ont across the riv-
cr. This year has been so fas CRY onc less
| than the usual amount of snow fell in the
mountains. and there has not been Il good
| soaking rain since spring: indeed there has
been none for year or more. and. as might
be expected. the river is low. though the tota!
amount is hy no means small. One of the
canals is taken OHt Of the river Is miles above
Greeley on the moth side, being named No.
?. and it runs something over 80 miles north
of the town and extending east Of it, and
along this canal arc grain fields. presenting at
this time of the year an almost unbrokrn
mass of green while the great American des-
crt crowds up to the furrow. being brown,
dry, dcsolatc, covered with the short gramma
grass, and enlivened only by the prairie dogs
rs they sit barking hy their dwellings. Five
miles above town, what is called canal No. 5
is taken out on the south side of the river,
and waters several thousand acres Of grain
above and below the town. and the town it.
self with at least 800 gardens. and small
patches and thousands of shade and fruit
trees.
''About three weeks ago" says The CORES
pondcnt. 1.-THE water began to fail in No. ),
and in 4 short time ceased to run; indeed the
the river itself went dry. Imagine the con-
ditOn of q town of $500 inhabitants depend
ing wholly on water to keep gardens and all
vegetation alive, as much deprived of water
as if they were thousands of miles from
river. Here were our new houses bull. with
unt,iuy labor and many hopes. here our l,et
dollar has been expended, and dissolution and
utter ruin appeared before us. Although the
s:,n shone day after day with a fierce glare,
pail of blackncss seemed to cover us, and
with inexrressiblc sadness we saw tender veg
citation withcr and recent paintings of young
forest trees perish. Still, ii is to be said that
No. 9 was full, for a dam had recently been
built at cost of $4,000, and the work was so
well done that it held the whole of the river.
and thus our farmers on the north side use
their abundance, and yet with the utmost (.i.-
igencc, for the period had arrived when the
grain must have water: many are the instan-
ccs where men were out 90 hours ont of the
o., while children brought their food, and
some had their only sleep on The ground by
the side Of the running water Vast as is The
volume of water carried by No. ., being 20
feet wide and 4 feet deep, there is no surplus,
and it is customary for eamcrs 10 exchange
water, ard so double up the amount, when
the whole is poured upon the fields through
the previously constructed channels. But
the town must have water, and accordingly
the Colony Trustees ordered that in the cmer-
gcncy No. 2 must give water, two days in six.
to No. 3. Meanwhile the farms between the
two head d-gates had been suffering, and so
they worked night and day to build dams,
that they might take the water when it should
come; and truly they did take it, and so much
of it that % hours passed and not drop
reached the town, and it was considered
whether it was not best to hold it back in No.
2; but finally the dams were broken, down
came the water in floods, and for two days
there was moisture again.
''Then three of the Colony Trustee went up
to Fort Collins to see what had become Of
the water, and the two large canals mentioned
above were found carrying heavy bodies. The
Fort Collins Colony, or Laramie County I'm
provement Company's canal. was wasting
water at a fearful rate, for 1t carried more
than our No. could hold, and yet but little
over 100 acres were under cultivation, while
the rest Of the water was wasted out on the
plains. So far as could be seen the object of
this exhibition was 10 sell water rights, but
people.seem suspicious, for the right to only
480 acres had been sold. In such case it
was time for energetic action. The best law
yers were retained, and petition for per-
petual injunction on these two canals was
prepared and noticeduly served on the off,
Gers, leaving nine other canals to be disposed
of hereafter. Thcreupon said officers appear
ed before the trustees and proposed q conven-
ton to be held by all in the valley having
rights to water, that there might be settle,
ment of the difficulty without long and cx-
pensive lawsuit. The convention was &C
cordingly held, and after protracted dis
cussisn it was agreed that Ill the water that
could possibly be spared should be sent down
to Greeley, providing the trustees should sus-
pend tho injunction suit. Thus truce Il
held, but Tire trustees distinctly informed the |
trespassers If this word is strong enough)