Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1900-02-21
IMPORTANT PLAN
For the Salvation of the Red River
Valley From foundations.

At a meeting at Fargo to discuss the
better drainage of the Red river valley,
after a thorough discussion of the plans
of Improvements contemplated by the as
ISOLATION and for the purpose of interest
ing the people who are directly interested
in the consunmation of the improve
ments, the following permanent execu-
tive committee was appointed:
DR.. r. c.. Kelsey, White Rock, S. D.,
chairman.
Mayor johnson, Fargo, vice-chairman.
A. c. Edwards, Fargo, secretary.
E. G. Valentine, Breckenridge, MINI.
Major Edwards, Fargo.
Fred Falley, Wahpeton.
Beginning an exhaustive statement of
the plans of the work sought to be &C
complished by the association, DR.. KEEL
sey said that the predominant feature of
the work was to secure the control of the
waters of the Red river and its tribu-
t~aries, so that destructive overfows
could be prevented, thus securing thous-
ands and thousands of acres of land
from the ravages of high waters and the
incident enormous destruction of farm
stock and property in general. He said
the contemplated Improvements included
the Red River of the North and tribu-
taries above Fergus Falls and Crookston,
Minnesota, and of Big Stone lake, Mime
sofa and South Dakota. The plan of i'm
provement con1emp]ates the formation
of two reservoir systems, at Red lake
and Lake Traverse, at the headwaters of
tributaries to the Red river, for the one
purpose of diminishing the disastrous
effects of foods and of storing water for
use at low stages in the Red river system.
One point was emphasized by DR.. Kelsey
in his endeavor to show how ~far-reaching
the improvements the association sought
to have made, and it was that a consider
able volume of water would be added to
the Mississippi river between st. Paul
and the mouth of the St. Croix during
the extreme low stage and thus have
considerable effect upon that reach of
river, also that in all probability it would
enable boats to reach st. Paul during
the whole boating season. This theory,
he said, was substantiated by Major W.
A. Jones, of the United States corps of
engineers in a report on the Red river
made to the secretary of war in 1892.
Referring to the reservoir system that
would be a necessary part of the pro
posed improvements, DR.. Kelsey briefly
outlined the plan and said that it would
include constructions of a reservoir dam
with a lock in Red Lake river near the
outlet of the lake, and locks and dams
at Crookston and Thief River. The plar
for the Lake Traverse reservoir system
contemplates the diversion of Otter Tai
river into Rabbit and Bots de Siou,
rivers by means of a dam and canal neal
Breckenridge, a dam and lock in Bots DE-
Sioux river below the mouth of the Rab
bit. also one at the foot of Big Stone lake
and canal to connect Big Stone lake
with Lake Traverse. Waters from the
watershed of Red lake could be as
sembled in one reservoir, and those from
the Otter Tail might be gathered il
Lake Traverse as a reservoir by means o
a dam at Breckenridge. These would
very materially aid in solving the ques
ton of making the improvements to tn
Red River of the North of a permanent
character.