The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1891-04-25
The Dearborn Canal to he Extended to
a Large Body of Land Lying
Southeast of Great Falls.
A Brief History of Other lrrigating
Canals That viii Re of Untold
Benefit 10 This Section
of Country.

facC9 reH;ruinP INC SuDJ''' VI hi'"S'''i'
a oucstion that will cut no mean figure
in our national prosperity. Concerning
the different irrigating schemes. he
says:
The Dearborn canal begins about see
ton 1G, township -. north of range :
west, unsurveycd lands, which lie in the
canyon of the north fork of the Dearborn
river, in Lewis and Clarke county. The
waters of the river are divided 10y an I'M
mense dam 23S feet long. composed Of
cribs built of twclvc-inch logs bultCd to
pether and filled with rock, the whole
being placed upon solid rock in the bed
of the stream; the canal runs thence over
a hill which separates the Dearborn from
the head of Flat creek: this portion OF
the canal being four and onc-half miles
long. twenty feet wide in the bottom.
thirty-eight feet at the top and VIII con
vey six feet depth of water. hi canal
ia 40 planned that "a raft 100 feet long
and twenty feet wide can hr tioatcd dow
by the force Of the current and the guld
ance of two men. The main continuous
canal will be when entirely completed
119 miles in length and the lateral bitches
475 miles long. Creek beds and lakes are
utilized to a very large extent. thus say
ing the construction of the same lengthot
canals. covering 2OO,UD acres of land
with an expenditure of about SlJu!OW.
The supply of water is SO plentiful
that. with the aid Of reservoirs, the
whole 2OO.OOO acres can hc irrigated at
one time.
The land covered isof excellent quality.
of a sandy loan character and varies in
depth from two to twenty feet. The
farmers will he charged about - an acre
per annum 1T is the purpose of the com
pany to extend its system to the great
body of land lying southwest of Great
Falls. The new Montana and Canada
railroad will cross its lands, thus afford
ing the farmcrscasya access TO the markets
with their cattle. sheep and gram.
The will be ready to deliver
water during the coming irrigation sea
son.
Wilson A Thumpson's canal. known as
the Grown Butte canal. This is one Of
the enterprises that will cover a large
amount OF land in Cascade county. This
work of irrigating some Of the excellent
land of that region has been undertaken
as a private enterprise by Wilson ~
Thompson Of Helena, and by Il system of
reservoirs they will have when completed
a canal twenty-five miles in length.
I'M 6IltliAlNlIi lN'EIl WV 7 va hiI'i '
~ripation company's undertaking is stu
ated near the villargo Of ChOtcaI, in thn-
teau county. There is long bank which
separate tho Teton and Muddy rivers,
comprising fifty or sixty thousand acres
of fine land. and this company is organ-
lied with a view II irrigating this land.
The system comprises about twenty five
miles of main canals fed by two rcScr
yoirs which are natural dcpr"sslons of
the prairie: ON" Of them "A mile and Il
quarter long by about a half Julie wide
and about forty two feet deep; the other
covers about eighty acres OF land and is
about thirty feet deep. These two rcscr-
yoirs are connected by Il canal; they lie
along the Teton river about three miles
apart: the upper or larger one is con
nected with the river by a canal, and
from this reservoir n canal RUM to the
smaller reservoir. and the irrigation be.
gins within l.9OO feet after leaving the
lower reservoir. The canals are carried
over this bench land, from which run
mains and i~atcrals to suit the natural fall
of the country, which is about twelve
feet TO the mile. The land lies smooth
and level and is deep and rich in soil
The work to he lone this year ClS9l) will
irripate about 5000 acres, and the sys
tIn nldN Il'l'hll'l W ~ sf
to embrace all the land lying between
the Teton and Muddy rivers and below
the reservoir sites.
The Florence Canal and Reservoir
company was engaged in constructing
it's improvements in 1891. The source of
u the water supply is the South fork of
the Sun river and the canal runs easterly,
and there is opportunity for improve
l. ment in this undertaking. There is fine
/, land under the line of this canal.
L. The Sun River Canal company contcm-
/, mates improvements to reclaim lands
living between the Teton river ON the
north, the Missouri river ON the east, the
H. Sun river on the south aud the Rocky
\ mountains on the west, comprising a
very extensive area. as may be seen by
consulting the local maps. The size of
h, the constructed part OF the canal is said