The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1906-10-10

may De tOrded at some OF Its widest
points. When the winter snow melts
In the mountains and hurries toward
the sea these fOrdings are hidden be-
meath the wildness of the torrent.
Millions of tons of silt were carried
down during the centuries and depos-
tied by the Colorado in the southern
portion of the original Salton sea. The
river after a while formed delta
like that OF the Nile and built a bar
rter which separated Il portion of the
inland sea from the ocean. The build
ing of this natural dam gradual.
elevated the bed of the Colorado river
higher than the sea level and as the
silt spread out over the surrounding
country tableland was formed in
that part of the Lower California pc
ninsula known as the overflow
lands The river cut channel for
itself down through these lands to-
ward the gulf of California and the old
inland sea. separated from the ocean
by the newly formed overflow lands,
was left without an outlet to shrink
by evaporation.
The sea became smaller and smaller
until. in our time. nothing remained of
it but the salt lake known as Salton
sink The sink was fed by the Alamo
river, flowing northward from the over
flow lands. and by Cariso and San
Felipe creeks. which rise in the ST.
erras. The sink had no outlet. and.
although the water was constantly en-
tering from the river and creeks the
sink remained stationary in size be-
cause the intense heat took Just as
much water out of it by the process of
evaporation as the netering streams
brought every day.
Until a few years ago Imperial val
ley. south of Salton sink. was for the
NEST part a sage brush desert. n had
once been the floor of the old inland
sea. but when the water left the re-
gion became arid like millions of
other acres in the sultry southwest.
Civilizations advance across the
Rockies brought about the application.
of the art of irrigation to the arid
valley, and roses soon bloomed where
there had been a desert waste. The
soil was virgin and being mostly silt
was as rich as that of the river Nile.
All the primaevally rich earth needed
was the application of water to trans
form land that had lain idle for cen
turtles into one of the richest valleys
in California.
For all that. it is one of the richest
valleys in the world. Its climate. soil
and products are those OF Egypt. The
date palm and pomelo flourish. Or
ange groves, vineyards. barley and rye
fields and splendid fruit farms have
succeeded the jack rabbit and the rat
tlesnake of the former waste of sage
brush. Three crops of grapes and
alfalfa have been raised on the same
ground there in a single season.
Farmers claim to realize $3.50 annual
ly on their canteloupe crops. In 1905
more than $4,000 acres were under
irrigation in Imperial valley. and
there are now 5000 inhabitants living
there on ground that is below the level
Of the sea.
\ Canal Project.
So much had been accomplished
through the irrigation ditch that
company was organized for undertake
ing the building of a canal to recover
many more thousands of acres on the
Mexican side OF the boundary. This
company spent several million dol
lars on the Imperial canal which har-
messed the Colorado and led its waters
through dam and waterway so as
to connect with the Alamo river. This
irrigation canal had been completed
and prospects were brightest when,
suddenly, the Colorado. then at its
flood height. about a year ago. smash
ed through the food gate dam of the
canal and rushed toward the Alamo.
Before such torrent. with it's million
tons of silt every twenty-four hours.
the engineers were helpless and the
turbulent waters opened the mouth
of the canal half mile, tearing great
gaps out all along the artificial water
way At Calexico the flood cut a new
channel half mile wide and then
turned northward toward Salton sink,
into which the Colorado river has
since been emptying it's contents In
stead of following its own bed to the
sea.
All of sudden the Salton sink
the shrunken remnant of once Won
derful inland sea-took on signs of
new life and began to flood the neigh
boring country. That was before the
Frisco earthquake and it was some
time before the natives understood the
real cause. Tourists on the Trans
continental railroad were told myster-
ious tales at the stations about the
reason for the encroaching of the wat
ers upon the railroad tracks. Over
100 miles of the Southern Pacific were
submerged and the tracks have been