CanÌƒon City record. [volume] (CanÌƒon City, Colo.) 1883-192?, 1907-04-25
DUEL BETWEEN ENGINEERS
AND THE COLORADO RIVER

In the world--a region with which the
yalIey Of The Nile can alone be COM
pared. No wonder then that in the
effort to protect this region for future
generations, the president OF the Unit
ed States has thought enough OF II TO
send to con urress a special InassaBe on
the subject
This VALLEY will some dag be the
home of above 600 900 persons or
hundreds of thou sands OF acres of
truly garden farm lands II iatelligeHt
methods are employed. With a popu-
la Jiun OF something like 10000, prop
srty there is estirnnted 10 be worth in
the neighborheod .nf Sa!100.o 200 today
and some day Il T. thonrht II will be
worth ssven times more Al least There
fSere nests of little farm houses to be
saved. tiny hanGets or settlements.
snall villages and larger towns clean
NJ from the Mexican border ana the
Imperial valley above the town of
Yuma ane the government works Al
I.a.,una dan. There were hundreds of
mics OF railroad 20 be saved. main
line and branch lima. with their
bridges. trestles. sidfnss and stations;
Their. are salt works and other indus
the fiShung for.
Il WAS not so many years ago thai
Salton district with the imperial val
ley so-cslled was regarded as very
much a. Dead Sea fruit. The country
sns In fact a dried and dead sea The
Salton Sink was described by seien-
lists as crystalline chrolide of &cdi-
unl, winch is mostly salt. ana the I'm
pertal valley was the undisputsd hpHle
nf the horned toad and the diamond
back rattlespake
Some curious perrsbs, geoloslsts or
others. investigating all this dry-as-
ius, land. saw that che valleys were
really deposits of salt. left there ages
before when there WAS Q river flowing
through. capable of the richest OF har-
vests If only water could be obtained
for 1t. Rain was out of tie question.
and they suddenly realized that right
at hand WAS the supply. sll-ahey want
cd and more.
Nature had kindly arranged the new
river. branch OF the Colorado river, 50
that IL could be made to transform the
entire district without any trouble
worth the mentioning. 1t had depos-
tied the silt over 1t all. and the very
act had raised Its bed higher and high
er each succeeding century until 1t
was to tap the river inteuigently, 10
cate the canals and the things would
be done.
The first tap was made In 1891 and
the result was as expected. That part
of the country affected began to bios
SOW. Settlers began to come. Two
years later a company was organized
to take charge OF the project.
without taking thought OF the NOR
row. they put In fiimsy dams. strung a
few canals over the surface. and sold
water rights to settlers.
In the spring of 1904 the demand for
Irrigation was 80 great that another
tap was made inst south Of the first
one. The second one had scarcely been
completed when both taps were filled
up by silt washed in by the river.
To relieve the situation. In July 1904.
third tap was made farthsr down the
river. about four miles Inside OF the
Mexican border. The location was
chosen because Il would givs greater
drop 70 the canal and Il was believed
that the Increased velocity OF the low
would ksep the channel clear.
TAis tap naussd he troabls, Uay