Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1901-07-18
fHEIR PREVENTION IS THE DE-
SIRE OF MANY PEOPLE.
Millions Of Acres of Fertile LAM =,
Minnesota and the Dakotas Could
BE Reclaimed and Hundred. of
Miles of Waterways Opened to
Navigation by System of Neser-
. voirs.

pared ana printed under the direction of
CHARLES G. Walcott, which was the spe-
'cial work Of the survey made by Warren
upham, 1t is found that disastrous foods
nave been known to occur in the Red
river valley as far back as the year
1925; also in 1852, 1860. 1861, 1882, 1903
and 1897; they are caused in the spring
by the melting of the unusual heavy
supply of snow and by accompanying
heavy rain, and are often increased by
'gorges of ice which form at or near the
northern boundary of the United States.
1t is known that the ice in the northern
r lower portion of the river does not
break up nearly as early as in the south
ern portion. The waters overflow the
banks and the fiat lands on each side of
The river
To Distance of Many Miles.
Inc otter Tail river is, with Lake Trav-
'erse and the Bots de Sioux river. the
origin of the Red River of the North.
The Otter Tail river rises in small lake
about sixty miles north of Otter Tail
lake; between its origin and Otter Tail
lake 1t passes through seven other lakes.
Because of these numerous other lakes
on the upper portion of the Otter Tail
'elVer It's volume Is not greatly affected
by heavy rains and SHOWS or dry seasons.
The range between the highest and low
est stages Of the Red River Of the North
increased rapidly between Breckenridge,
MIMI, and Wahpeton, N. D., being over
thirty feet at Moorhead and Fargo and
torty-four feet at Grand Forks and near
ty thirty-nine feet at Pembina and st.
Vincent. In 1903 it reached a height Of
nearly forty-three and one-half feet at
mr. Envlyo nd tn kI,o
last great flood, the river reached a
height of nearly, forty-seven feet at
Grand Forks. At lower Fort Gary, six
teen miles from Winnipeg, it often rises
TO thlrty-five feet
Origin of the River.
From Breckenridge and Wahpeton tho
Red River of the North runs in nearly
= direct line to Lake Winnipeg, 2S5
miles, but in it's meanderings it flows
nearly 700 miles. The river rises in
lake 1850 feet above the sea about thir-
teen miles west of Lake Itasca, which is
the origin of the Mississippi river. The
TALL of the Red river from its origin to
Breckenridge and Wahpeton is 500 feet,
and the fall from Breckenridge and
Wahpeton to Lake Winnipeg, through
the 700 miles of its meanderings Is some
thing less than 300 feet. The banks Of
the Red River of the North from Breck-
enridge and Wahpeton vary from twelve
feet in height to fifty feet, and the coun-
try on both sides of the river is nearly
dat, with only slight rise in either dt-
tection, as one travels away from the
river. To the west the rise is much less
than to the east.
The Red river valley was formerly the
bed of lake extending from Lake
Traverse on the south to some seven hun
bred miles north. far beyond the present
northern boundary of Lake Winnipeg.
This great lake was some three hundred
miles in width. At the present time
Lake Winnepeg is all that remains Of
what once formed a great inland sea.
All of the waters Of the Red river val
lev now empty into the Hudson bay
through the Nelson river, but during the
existence of the lake previously men
toned they flowed to the south through
the present Minnesota river valley. Thus
we have between the Gulf of Mexico and
Hudson bay great valley with the high
est point Of land located
At Browns Valley, MIMI,
sbout nine hundred seventy-ive feet
above the sea. Nearly all of the rivers in
the Red river valley flow south from
their origin for the first few miles. aft
erwards turning north or in a north
erlv direction. 1t has been found by the
sur1 eys that the Otter Tail river some
.eventeen miles east Of Wahpeton and
Breckenridge is over one hundred feet
higher than Lake Traverse; it is also
known that this river could be made to
dow. during flood periods. into Lake
traverse, and Lake Traverse being eight
-feet higher than Big Stone lake could
, lie made to flow through new channel
y into Big Stone lake; this would relieve
the Red river of all of the waters which
nend to produce the floods in the spring.
The other chief source Of the Red river
"a Red lake and Red Lake river. Ac-
,.ordine to the surveys made by the Unit
.nd States engineers it has been found
that Red lake will hold all of the waters
which come to it during spring freshets.
Rv relieving the Red river of the waters
from the Otter Tail river and the Bots de
Sioux. the outlet of Lake Traverse and
the Red Lake river, the danger Of floods
would be greatly lessened and the floods
bright be
Entirely Prevented.
On the west of the Red River OF the
North, land Is so nearly nat Ior nearly
one to three hundred miles, that the
waters do not reach the river sufficiently
.early to materially affect the volume Of
the Red river, until after the time of the
danger from ice jams. also during the
summer months the streams from the
west become nearly dry. many of them
entirely so.
In the survey made by the United
States Assistant Engineer w. c. Weeks.
in 1897, of Big Stone and Traverse lakes,
Mr.. Weeks showed that Lake Traverse Is
some eight feet higher than Big Stone
lake. He proposed to construct canal
between the lakes. so that the waters OF
Lake Traverse could, when desired. flow
into Big Stone lake. 1t has also been
proposed that both Lake Traverse and
Big Stone be utilized as reservoirs.
In 1875 Maj. G. *. Warren made report
of q survey of the Minnesota river. which
shows that II Big Stone and Traverse
lakes were utilized as reservoirs the vol.
ume of the Mississippi river at st. Pau
would be increased to such an extent dur