The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-07-08
Roosevelt Doomed to
Lie Beneath the Flood
Arizona Town Named In Honor Of President MI be
@@@4 3s8S# Buried 200 Feet Under the Surface
Of Lake. 5#s#5 3$55$ 5#&
IssssIH.sIsI
5yof aELake.
BY Frederick Ordwsa'y,.

d 4 BY Frederick Ordway.
gfn that land Of mystery, Of lost races
ana l,oary ruins. in "a warm and sunny ny
valley Of Southern Arizona stands Sthe
ss town or Roosevelt To-day IL Is u y RVS
9 i,,sI 8DustiinE community II :, 900 illllnbl-
s8fhnts, with electric lights. water WORKS.
II sewerage, schools and churches. We
s II years from now ltfwill lie at tic bottom,
u or Il lake, 200 feet beneath the surface
Et&ofs the water M Il 3 fs& . tg
,rhe town ofE Roosevelt canc into being
bccuysc OF tile Roosevelt dam project. IT
@3 HI fitting, perhaps that completion OF " u 9
58 dan will he tho signal for the town De-
sttnction.B and that the Very ground upon
Which Ut stands will be forever buried
N fiomsthe sIght man. Fo,rLt and Hers
wern covered by tic. Snshes OF
aS ycslyius: Nincvell and Babylon were
N abandoned to tlie4deserts drifting sands
MI there nre legends Of beauttf CITIES ~ y
ii gti,s tabled continent of Atlantls. many
AZ leagues under the ocean way s but
N Roosevelt stands alone, probably, rs the
# only town which man has Econtrlved &C.
DELIBERATELY TO bury beneath the flood. g$S
n Roosevelt must perish that a desert
maybe made to bloom. Already tho mar
68 yeipus engineering work is well under
a3 way. 81 The walls Of the narrow canyon
which Salt River r,ishcs on edge
5$g are being locked 4 y q mass I've lnonoltth
\! OF solid masonry, the highest arch dam, IN Y
the world " III ~ n Ne 55i "a t,i
This, wonderful structure OF sandstone
N ana cement will he $50 feet III height from
"a foundation to parapet,. 30 feet long, and
"A 1TOBfeet wide ut base, and 700 feet long on
#.5 top. ~ Its cubical contents will be 100000
& cubic yards, and in$its construction 94Q,-
s8 900 barrels of5cement will be required.
Placed alongside or an eghtcen-sto tory sky
Sg scraper, a this dam would rise ten feet
H above 1t, whileEts length on top would be
inoreE than two city blocks. A turbulent
s8stream. with Its enormous I floods, will
& beat8itself into stiffness 10 anst the ma
MI soi1ry monster its foam and spunle lost
Sgs In a deep lake, twenty-five miles long
y: and two miles vide .5a
Hsj,S BY day and by night the dull roar Of
NJ dynamite breaks the desert stil Illness. and
III the ca nyorl walls go crashing down To-
is furnish material for his structure. On
g3sthesh hill far above tho rock crushers never
" stop grinding the limestone, -and great
n klt1sTtwhite hot, are burning daily hun
II dreds5 81 f barrels of cement. RI
When night comes myrads of electric
fights. burst forth, weirdly Illuminating
"a a. busy army of tollers gnone-like work.
" ing in a shad owy canyon a star gemmed
Y Heaven looks down upon n;ISwondrous
Scene, unreal awesone and inspiring.
lS85s This great work Of the government pos
Al sesses unusual attractions for the 5engi-
" 8neer@ and tile laynlan.8 Il Is locat ed In q
valley which has been8the abode Of three
sS4 races, one or which lived IL here when
~ Caesar sal upon his throne. hi III an age
" forgotten the cliff-dwellers built their
5F eyrie-like homes along the canyons Of
&&a this stream and in the narrow valleys
s95s the lines of their Irrigation canals may
vet be traced. M u. 4; .s{$ Sc88
II Centuries later the Apaches came, and
St folsanlanY years their tepees dotted the.
I'll l,asin.$ Then came the white man, who
sought to reconauer the desert. which
s8ss had resumed its sway after the cliff
85s3 dWelers vanished. ss
The battle with {unfrlendly mature
q proved too much for the pioneer. and
siIincle Sam took IL hand inet the fight. No
III problems could daunt his engineers. They
3SS55 laug he'd a I floods and Knocked at desoa-
9355s tlon. "A dam site was discovered sixty
giS$t two miles from II railroad, and they pro-.
4. ceeded to connect II with civilization BY
5Ss a marvellous road, which winds its way
4 for forty miles through deep canyons,
a3 along the face of frownfng 5prcclpces,
II Yer foaming cataracts, and across broad
g8 areas Of treeless desert. A opensAup to
s&s the transcontinental traveller Il 4 new TO.
985 Eion of compelling interest and of splen-2
Ny did scenery Better than that. 1t provides
n An easy thorou ghfare for the Transports
2$S lion Of heavy machinery of all, kinds and
5sfa the supplies for the new community,
sprang into life almost alta word.
Mi, And this community affords almost5 a
& story in itself, for It is different from,
y others which, epheneral-like. spring up
\ q ii the Far West. It is located In. a
basin, trimmed by&high mountains
S53 Through the bottom e OF IL flows the
waters Of Salt River and Tonto9 Creek,
y the streams meeting at the southern end
5 Of the basin. and emerging from 1t
Through a canyon 700 feet deep III the
1.-THE only outlet os the BASIN I one
5$8would emerge by anotheiGroute, It must
egby4 hat Of mountain roads and trails
" s15SAlthongh this was once the favored
{SFl rendezvous OF the old-tlme outlaw ana
&8 cattle thief, Offering safe refuge from
pursuit, the busting little city Of Roosc-
walt is strangely unlike the average new
y town Of the West. There are no saloons.
s8noi gambling. and the bad man with ready
y D six shooter and bowie-knife is conspcu-
i5s ously absent. Ia tlsg sl IA
43s5sItais a government town, and the rules
Il laid down are simple and effective. Uncle
sam owns the ground upon which the
}s}s town is erected. and the people are there
merely by suiferance. No man may oc-
@cupy town lot which faces the main
street unless he Is engaged in leglti-5
! mate business, and his continuous pos
& session of the property depends upon.
8$S his own conduct. The results are in
marked contrast With those which fol-
lowed the location of new towns on other
4 projects, where the government could not
ss exercise any supervisory control. The
laborers are contented. They are de-
posting large part Of their earnings
5 with the disbursing officer Of the Re-
clamation Service. who banks It for them
ff In Phoenix.
IA To-day the butcher, the baker. the
druggist. and general merchandise dealer