East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1906-06-02

music or the pomp and panoply of
war carry their messages to Garcia
as surely and uncomplaining, and in
the line of duty as serenely meet death
face to face as any wearer of shoulder
straps or epaulcts, says w. X. Howard.
of Denver.
The reclamation service, that branch
of governmental activity engaged in
redeeming arid wastes of western
lands, would not seem to offer n fer
tile field for deeds or daring and he
roic sacrifice. Yet its records are re-
plete with the blood-stirring deeds of
men whose names the public never
hears. The story of the survey for
the Gunnison tunnel and the achieve
ments Of A. L. Fellows and ]. w. Nc
Connell, however, is too good one to
be lost in musty government archives.
Down in southwestern Colorado lies
the Uncompahgre desert, 100000 acres
of desolation. A small part of it un-
der irrigation had proved fertile be-
yond all expectations, but in the prov
ing the full capacity of Uncompahgre
river had been reached. No more water
was available, but there lay beyond
the irrigated lands a principality of
generous potential wealth, which it
appeared must forever remain an un-
productive desert If no additional sup
ply could be brought into the valley.
Canyon 5000 Feet Deep.
Thirty miles eastward from the Un-
compahgre flows the Gunnison river,
a powerful stream, just the kind need
ed IN the valley. Why not divert it
and use the water for this purpose :?
A visionary scheme would be the off,
hand verdict. The Gunnison along its
stretch traverses a box canyon 5000
feet deep. Surely no one would divert
water under such circumstances.
One day there came to the resident
engineer of the reclamation service at
Denver an order from Washington
that read somewhat like this: "Ad
wise me If it is feasible to divert Gun
nison to Uncompahgre valley by tun-
mel under Vernal mesa" Signed
"Chief Engineer"
Let us diverge briefly to analyze
this order. A tunnel under the Ver-
nal mesa, which is the name of the
mountain through which Gunnison
river has cut a narrow cash. would
be at least five miles long from the
canyon to the nearest opening in I'm
compahgre valley. This meant the
longest tunnel in the United States;
not so amazing to the Denver office.
If the location of both ends of the
proposed tunnel were in known coun-
try. But in this case the canyon where
II must begin was unknown. No one
had ever passed through it alive, and
those who had attempted it and re-
turned were ready to demonstrate be-
yond ell possible doubt that it was
an impossibility.
Now II is automatic in engineering
work that If you are going to report
upon the feasibility of a tunnel you
must determine the location of both
ends by careful measurement on the
spot. Well. orders from Washington
directed report on feasibility
Two Kinds of Fellows.
no one in the service seemed to
think it anything unusual when
Fellows. of the Denver office" set
his square jaw. quietly made his prep
arations. took along one assistant,
and went surveying down Gunnison
canyon. 1t will be well to remember
that in all those days of swimming,
climbing, freezing. thawing and hun
ger. he was not sliding through by the
easiest path and taking the death
threatening places at bound, but he
was proceeding deliberately and sur
veying every foot.
The next time you go down the
street and see a well-dressed fellow
running a level or a transit along the
curb. or stalking off the boundaries of
a house lot, just notice his polished
shoes, his neat notebook, his comfor-
table, easy attitude, and his graceful
signals to the rod man. and then think
of Fellows of the Denver office"
down in that roaring cavern, drenched
to the skin. hanging on by ropes and
sGuinting through a transit, because
Washington wanted to know If the
tunnel was feasible.
No man, so far as known, had ever
gone through the canyon alive, Stout
ly built RATS Of logs launched at the
head Of the canyon had emerged at
its mouth smashed into kindling wood
1t was popular belief that no man
could go down the canyon and live
to tell of his experiences.
Loaded on Rubber Raft.
With their instruments and provis-
ions on the inflated rubber mattress,
Fellows and his companion set forth
rI-
ly an hour Of the time they We're in
the canyon that their lives were not
in deadly peril; there was not min
ute that was not filled with heart
breaking hardships. 1t all ended by
Fellows and his companion saving
two things-their lives and their note
books. Everything else went down
with the flood. When the men emerg-
ed at the DEVILS Slide. weary, bruised
and bleeding. friends who had been
waiting to pick up their mangled
bodies hailed them as II they had re-
turned from the dead
When Fellows sent his report to
Washington there was in It no word
OF the perils and hardships OF survey
work in a roaring canyon. 1t was brief
and to the point: "Gunnison tunnel
project is feasible"
Soon the order came from Wash
ington: Complete surveys for con-
struction."
The Uncompahgre valley, which Is
to be made fertile by the waters Of
the Gunnison river, comprises parts
of Ouray, Montrose and Delta coun-
ties. II has a general elevation Of