The record-union., 1893-01-19
CANALS ARE NECESSARY.
ReIief-Ways the Only Protection from
Inundation.
Pioneer Epperson of Co1usa Claims to
Have Foreseen the Failure of
the Levee system.

EDS. RECORD UNION: Il or thirty years
past L have been a close observer of the
many schemes that have been tried to re-
claim swamp lands and prevent the over
flow of our rivers. Our last floods fully
demonstrate that we are as far from any
method that is reliable as we were thirty
years ago.
have never been in favor Of the levee
systems, as tried by the people of our
State. When Levee District No. was
formed in Sutter County, twenty-seven
years ago, l was in Yuba City on the day
the levee was completed. | was there on
the day it broke, the winter following its
completion. A lot of scientific men as
sembled in Tom Boyd's back store-room
to talk it over, and there was large stove
IN the room, it being cold and wet.
The levee had broken, and many had
come to town in boats. went in to that
back room to warm myself was not
one of the scientific mer. had only
come to town the day before to sell a hog;
but the levee broke while | was there,
which made it impossible for me to get
home with my team until the water sub
sided. l listened, and tried to learn the
great methods of reclamation.
The conclusion of that scientific confab
was that they had lacked Just one foot of
building their levees high enough. They
then and there resolved among them
selves to rebuild the levee and make it
one foot higher than before. They felt
sure that with one foot more ON ton of
the old levee and the breaks repaired
they would be all right.
As the crowd was about to assemble
around big barrel in that back room
all oId-umers know what that means
1 ventured to say: "Gentlemen. / am not
a scientific man; only came to town to
sell hog. But | would say that | firmly
[ believe you will always lack one foot of
| having your levees high enough under
your present system of reclamation"
a lot OF them looked at me with sickly
grins on their faces, with something like
pity Tor nay ignorance. One asked me
how | would do il? | answered ''bv
making canals. Should any of you live
to see twenty years hence, Just think of
what am saying. | have no land in
your district, and have no interest in the
district-only kind wish that it will be
success, which viii never be under
your present mode.''
just twenty years after that l was in
the town OF Colusa, and Judge P. w.
heyser laid his hand on my shoulder
and said: "Old boy, how are you? I
have thought of you many times during
the last twenty years, but more especially
during the last twenty-iour hours. I
have just came from Marysville to this
place to hold court. The whole country
is under water, just as it, was twenty
years ago, when you told those fellows at
| Iuba City their leyee would always lack
one foot of being high enough!"
The Judge was present in Yuba City at
the time l write of.
William III. Parks, of Parks dam fame.
tried to dam the water up between the
Buttes and the Sacramento River in SUIT
ter County. | fought that scheme from
the beginning, as | had land in the dis
trict. l felt sure it would be a failure.
Mr.. Parks argued that it would be a sue
cess. told him the water needed an out
let. instead Of damming up. He built
| the dam, and put men on it with shot
guns; but the floods came, and his dam
did not Withstand them. 1t was on a
sandy foundation.
Poor Bill Parks has also gone with the
flood OF humanity that is continually
passing down the stream of time He
was a good man, but, like all others.
liable to err.
L see by the RECORD UNION that there
is going to be a reclamation meeting in
Sacramento this week, in which several
counties are to take part. l truly hope
they will take such steps as will be last
ing benefit to our overfowed lands
and rivers. l am canal man, from the
fact that God has pointed out the way.
All we have to do is to follow the center
of the low lands on both sides of the
rivers, and make places on the rivers for
overtiows to enter the canals when the
rivers get to certain hight. Then take
steps to keep our rivers from being filled
with debris, if possible. Then we will be
a prosperous people.
These are only my views and they may
be worthless. But one thing is sure-re-
clamation by levees has, in the main,
been failure in California so far.
B. G. EPPERsoN.