The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-09-10
THE RED ROCK VALLEY.
Rich Spot in Beaverhead County
That Only Needs Wster to
Make Il Bloom.
Nature Has Provided the Streams
and q Natural Reservoir
Site.
cor,~arv Orranirca with Large Capital
and 4 BIZ Force Of Men 10 NOW
nj Work.

and i BE Force of Men IL Now
Mt Work.
Thai Montana Ia attracting the attention
AZ capital,sts not only in mining enter
prisea, but in other directions, is shown a.
most continuously. There IL . great nelt
In the state for irrigation enterprises and y
ID being taken advantage OF BY people O
large means, The latest Of those 10 dowr
in Haaverhesa county. and the Lima cor
respondent of the Salt Lake Tribune haf
this 10 say of ii:
In the old staging days about the frs'
oasis reached in going north from utsh 70
Nontsna wal near whore the road crosses
from Idaho INTO the then territory OF Mon
taua, Passengers in the days OF gold e.
o,tement and incidents which led up TO the
acts Of the vieilantes remember we'll how
they, on going moth, were pleased on reach
inc Pleasant Valley. just beyond mat
lovely spot the continental divide was
passed, after which the route led through
tbe valley of Red Rock. equally pleasant
and a%boundinc in iuxuriant grassss nour-
ishsd hy very rich soil. The writer remem-
bsrs this valley with pleasure Is he frat saw
il. and also At the time there was in the val
lev a Red Rock town Of one or two Thousand
psople, when in 1879 it Was the northern
terminus of the Utah and Northern rail-
way. The entire valley was beautiful as =
rich pasturage for the thousands OF animals
which the ~freishting business had massed
there. Az that time Montana had only this
one railway and the uncertain Missouri
river TO carry goods in and out, and hence
teams from most OF the territory came to
the "Terminus'' for goods
The town Of Red Rock has long passed
away, leaving only a few cans and other
rubbish to mark the spot, but the beautiful
valley remains the same. The same rich
soil il there ready TO be converted into most
excellent farming lands, and made most
productive by the addition of plenty of
water for irrigation. ] have travelled
through this valley and am greatly pleased
more farmers are making pleasant homes
and raising large Yields Of grass, grain. etc.
There 10 room left for thousands Of more
people to make good homes for themselves.
and become prosperous in their pursuit.
with the high peaks and great range OF
the Rocky mountains on the south. divld-
ING the watershed Of the continent. and
lower hills bounding the north. Red Rock
valley 10 a beautiful one averaging prob
ably four miles wide and nearly twenty
five miles long. As before said, the soil is
very rich, hence with so good q climate As
it has, only one great thiaR 10 needed, that
of an abundant supply OF water. The peo-
pie now in the valley have about thirty
farms under cultivation, which aggregate
$1,000 forw e., aiv thnrsapH acraS that ia
titled and watered. This water comes from
side gulches and small bitches tapping Red
Rock river. So far there has been NO Or
ganized OR cooperative Irrigation put in
operation here. hence irrigation has been
limited to the small means and facilities OF
settlers. These farmers raise most excel
lent wheat, barley. oats and vegetables,
while their meadows produce large Yields OF
timothy. blue grass, blue joint and alfalfa.
Grain grown here has ~plumpness and
weight n excess Of what 10 produced on
Kansas and Nebraska lands. while the
grasses are far more nutritious than such
40 are grown In a less favored climate and
soil for this class OF food for animals.
The question OF more and better irrlga-
ton for this valley is about being fully
solved. Lima is located we'll towards ths
upper end of the valley. The Utah &
Northern railroad has an average grade
down through the valley and IN down Bea'
verhesd valley a distance of fifty miles
from Lima to Dillon of twenty-six feet to
the mile. This ia mentioned to illustrate
how we'll a canal SYSTEM may reach uI
along the rim of the valley and cover all
the good lands which may be desirable tc
bring under cultivation. Red Rock is toe
small q stream during the irrigation season
to give the needed supply of water to all
these lSnds. but il a storage system was re-
sorted to there would be no trouble in get
x5r~ r-rrh IN anvar tho Soparfu {hcrca- al
or more acres of good land in this valley.
Fortunately nature has planned we'll fo1
this. Some ten miles above Lima the valley
narrows down to a small gorge. while allow
this is a valley entirely worthless for cult
vation and 90 we'll adapted for q reservol
location that it was set aside by tbs govern
mept for q storage reservoir. This was "
ordered two years ago. By constructing
dam forty feet high in the marrow canyon
referred to, a reservoir will be erected Will
~aienpth of fifteen miles and mp TO eight mile
wide. A reservoir SO constructed woQl,
have a drainage area Of five hundred squar
miles Of country lying at an altitude O
eight to ten Thousand feet above sea level
and where the snow fall is very great. TIL
proposed dam will only have to fill p spac
sixty feet wide at the bottom and $50 fee
at the top; and since the two enelosln
walls are solid stone extending far highel
the plan OF such a dam il perfectly feaslbl
and with proper tunnels tor outlet and cTel
fow there will be no danger of oyer-pressur
and flooding below the dam. 1t ID propose
to make this dam OF masonry and earth
work, with a base 300 feet thick, 80 that
can be carried to a height of ninety feet
desirable to do SO IN she future. Even wit
adam forty feet high the storage eapsoit
will be more than ample for the valley, un
til it becomes quite densely populated
Below the dam q main canal thirty mile
long is to be put in at once, and later tn
enterprise may extend it's system Of canal
clear down through Beaverhead valley int
RattIesnske valley whore there is MUG
good and in need of water. OF course tn
system will embrace many lateral ditchs
leading TO the various farms and distric,
10 be Irrigated.
The above Is only az outline of an entel
prise recently organized, for which q cou
pany has Just been incorporated with a oe,
itsllZation of $1OO, 900, one-half of While
has been paid in. The name of the ineol
poTation ia the Lima Reservoir and Irries
tion company, composed of ]. M. Dresst
and Z. s. Alvey, of Mascu, Mich, j. /
Holmes. of Ogden. Utah, ana l.. &. For,
of Lima. Mont, and these form the boa,
of directors. Mr.. Holmes is president, NJ
Dresser vice president and MIR. Alvey is Sc,
Rotary and treasurer. A large force of ms
and teams have begun work already, AZ
this force ID TO be increased so SIS TO ha,
the dam completed ready TO catch ar