Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1904-01-22
Is the FreakieSt Kind
of a Freak
Stream
Gets a Divorce From Itself
and Each Half Does
Business by It,
self

The contention over the division
Of the water Of the Tum-a-lum and
the Little Walla walla rivers, and
the formation OF the first irrigation
district in the state on the Little
Walla Walla taken all together
forms an interesting story.
In the first place, the walla walla
river is a freak Instead of being
formed of Two or moro streams, the
main river comes down from the
Blue mountains in one stream until
it reaches a point near Milton, when
it abruptly divides into two streams
the Tum-a-lum, flowing westerly in a
sweeping semi-circle with the convex
curve to the north, and the Little
Walla Walla, sweeping also west
ward, with its convex curve bending
to the south, the area between the
two streams forming an immense OBJ
Tong circle of fertile soil, containing
about $1,5OOOOO worth of property
and presided over by about 500 hap
py and prosperous people
Converge Near the Columbia.
After sweeping northward and
southwark for 10 or 10 miles, these
two streams are attracted toward
each other again, and after passing
the state line. they unite again and
go to the Columbia in union.
In 1872 Judge Macarthur in a de
clsion fixed the point of division for
the two streams and decreed that
each, the Tum-a-lum and the Little
Walla Walla should te apportioned
one-half Of the natural flow OF water
coming down the main Walla Walla
river, forever after.
Both branches of the river have
been settled up, the streams have
been diverted and one of the most
prosperous communities in the West
hugs the bottoms and tributary lands
of these strangely separated rivers.
One OF the old contentious of the
people living on the Tum-a-lum has
been that they were being deprived
of a portion Of their rightful share
of the water by two mill races di.
verted from the Walla Walla before
the river is divided to form it's two
branches below. These two races
sweep out southwark through Mil.
ton, around the point where the wa.
ter is divided equally for the two
streams, and then empty the undivid,
ed waters they carry into the Little
Walla Walla, a mile and a half below
where the Tum-a-lum and Little WAX
la Walla divide, thus giving the Lit.
tie Walla Walla people the advantage
of the Tum-a-lum people to the ex.
tent of the amount of water carried
by these\ mill races.
However this inequality in the di,
vision Of the water is Offset in a pc.
Tculiar way by nature.
Nature Tried to Strike a Balance.
At point about a nile and a half
below the divergence of the two
streams and below the outlet Of the
two mill races into the Little Walla
Walla, an ancient channel diverges.
from the Little Walla Walla, and
leads back through the tract enclosed
between the two streams and carries
the overflow waters from the Little
Walla Walla back into the channel
OF the Tum-a-lum, thus effecting
just division Of the water, after the
mill races empty back into the Little
Walla Walla that portion OF the un-
divided water needed TO turn the mill
wheels.
The Milton, Freewater & Hudson
Bay Ditch company hac built a ditch
diverting from the Little Walla Walla
below where this old channel leads
from that stream back to the Tuna.
lum and has filed a claim Tor 6OOO
miners inches Of water-an equal
amount OF this TO be diverted from
the Tum-a-lum ard Little walla Wal
la. The 5000 inches to be taken from
the Tum-a-lum is to be diverted al
the point OF separation of the two
streams, and carried down the natur
al channel Of the Littlo Walla Walla
to it's head-gate. where. with 5000 |
inches from that stream Il would be
turned into the ditch and used to ir'
rigate a large tract of land not now
sufficiently covered with bitches to
produce crops.