Tombstone epitaph., 1888-02-25
WATER STORAGE.
THE SALVATION FOR ARIZONA.
Complete Success of an Important Enterprise Demonstrated. Immense Crops of Alfalfa Grown on Lands Considered by the
 Government Not Worth
 Surveying.
From the Tucson Citizen.

for iirrigating purposes is one of great importance to the people of the Pacific Coast, especially in Southern California, Nevada and Arizona. Many far.sighted men, both east and west, are now turning their attention to it and bill has been introduced in Congress by Senator Stewart of Nevada, providing for tpo- graphical and hydrographIcal surveys for the purpose of ascertaining what waters can be stored in themountains, and what lands irrigated thereby. While the value of water storage has never been questioned, doubts have been expressed as to the practiblity of successfully storing large bodies of water in the mountains and irrigating the lands be- low. That such enterprises can be suc- cessfully carried out, has been fully dem onstrated by T. D. Parkinson and Robert N. Graves of the Nevada Land and Cat tie Company, on Willow Creek, in Elko county, Nevada.
 MT. Parkinson is now stopping at the Palace Hotel with his family, and has been interviewed upon this subject. When questioned about the great reser- voir which has been constructed under his direction on Willow creek, he said that he did not care to say much about his own enterprise lest it should be sup posed that he, or the company with which he was connected had a particular inter- est in giving publicity to the results of their work. Such was not the case, as they did not have foot of land tha: they would sell and had no object in advertis- ing their business. He was however greatly interested in the question of water storage, as he was among the very first to attempt it on large scale and it had been almost a hobby with him for many years.
 HOW THE PROJECT ORIGINATED.
 "What first induced you to look into this question of water storage?' asked the reporter.
 q was civil engineer, connected with the Land Department, ID the state of Nevada" replied Mir. Parkinson. "ln the course of my duties saw all those large bodies ofland which were apparent ly rich, yet perfectly valueless without ir- rigation. saw, too, that in many places in the mountains, dams could be con- s,ructed at small expense, capable of storing immense bodies of water I asso- ciated with me Robert N. Graves, min. ing man, and we built dam on Willow creek. That dam was washed away, on account of fault in its construction, and we found ourselves without sufficient capital to rebuild it. We endeavored to interest capitalists on this coast in the matter, but failed. We met with no better success in the east, and then we went to London, where we found all the assist ance we desired, and went on with the wsrk. Our business is particularly the raising of cattle and live stock, which you know is a very hazardous one, especially in such winters as the present one, when cattle have died by the thou sands on the ranges, because no pfovis- ion had been made for feeding them. Our plan was to irrigate lands and raise large quantities of alfalfa, so as to have plenty of feed when the ground was cov- cred with snow, and we have demonstra- ted the wisdom of our movement by saving all our stock this winter, when other cattlemen have lost theirs by the thousand.
 "The streams in that section of coun- try are small and provide very limited supply of water for irrigating purposes during the proper season. It was there fore necessary to store the water and we have erected dam and now husband an amount of water capable of irrigating from ten to fifteen thousand acres of land lying below our reservoir; carried the water on, and planted alfalfa. We have raised large crops and by this means are able to feed our poor COWS and young calves and thus make profit able business out one that was growing more hazardous every year. It was two or three yeavs before we were sure that our enterprise would be success. We had to encounter various obstacles, but having overcome them we are now per- fectly satisfied that not only is ours a success, but that there are various other places where similar dams could be con- structed and equally good results be obtained"
 THE GREAT DAM.
 "The dam that we have built lies upon Willow creek, in Elko county, about 30 miles from the railway. At the point where the dam is built the bluff, join each other within I75 feet and are 75 and 100 feet high, the channel of the creek passing between. The first thing was to secure permanent foundation, the dam we put in some years before having been washed out by undermin- ing. We secured permanent foundation