Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-02-19
THE GREAT sALToN SEA.
Odd Aspects In the Break Of the Col
orado River.

fOrnia by the Colo rado river cannot De
estimated, but there Is no doubt that
many millions of acres Of their soil
have been carried through the channel
Of this river since 1t broke loose from
it's bounds.
That great crack In the world which
Is known as the Grand Canon OF the
Colorado has been made partly by the
constant washing of the top Of the
earth into the river, which is ever fill
ed with mud and silt from the country
through which 1t flows. The canon
in some places is over 5000 feet deep,
estimating from the plateau which
which flows along the river bed. How
many thousands of years the Colorado
has been cutting it's way into the world
Is a puzzle to the geologists, but the
banks of dirt which the river has
dumped on the surface of southern
California show that 1t has indeed
transferred many millions Of acres Of
Arizona and Utah to the Colorado des-
ert
One sees places where these banks
of dried sediment are 200 feet and more
In height. Once In a while a rain storm
may visit the region. and then the wa
ter cuts Its way through this material
like a knife going through butter.
forming innumerable little canons,
some Of which are $50 feet in depth.
| t, na Of in tuhi
they dug a canal few years ago to
irrigate that part OF the desert known
as the Imperial valley. The way In
which the Colorado turned the canal
into its main channel and flowed into
the Salton Sink instead Of the Gulf OF
California is we'll known.
The Southern Pacific Railroad COM
pany, the irrigation company that built
the canal and the engineers Of the
United States Reclamation Service
united in an effort to force the river
back where it belonged, to conflne its
flow of water. They mustered an army,
which included a thousand workmen,
a dozen locomotives, herd Of mules
and horses, and supplied the army with
ammunition in the way Of long piles,
rock and other material which 1t was
thought would resist the current. But
the Colorado defeated the army and
again broke through the barriers con-
ining 1t. so that President Roosevelt
sent a hurry call to congress to come
to the relief OF the people Of the Impe-
rial valley.
This corner Of southern California
and over the border in Mexico Is the
scene OF one Of the most spectacular
irrigation schemes yet attempted in
America. In the Imperial valley neith-
er az human being nor an animal could
live formerly, for the reason that there
was no water, and on many portions
of it no rain has fallen for years. APP
parently the sand and silt could not
grow even greasewood, so barren was
the soil. FL. CO.. .. ...,.
1t was analyzed by chemist in Los
Angeles who stated that II sufficiently
moistened it would become very fertile.
It was this analysis that led to the
formation Of a company to spread the
water Of the Colorado over the sections
of the valley by means Of the canal.
AS much Of the region lies from 100
to 300 feet below the ordinary bed Of
the Colorado, 1t was only necessary TO
tap the river at some convenient point,
dig enough bitches and the water would
| ha
the work with big land dredgers and
other excavating machinery and cut
a canal ranging from 100 to 200 feet In
width and about ten feet in depth.
From the main canal an old river bed
which traverses the valley. they dug
smaller bitches to provide water for
about 250,O00 acres.
AS soon as the water began flowing
into the canal people began moving
Into the valley and taking up quarter
sections of farms. Rancheros left their
Mexican valleys and migrated north
ward. The fruit country around Los
Angeles contributed thousands of its
people. They were joined by farmers
from the prairies and the movement
included not a few from the east.
The first settlers found that they did
not need a roof over their heads at
night and did not have to hurry about
putting up houses. for the climate Is
so dry that when bedtime comes you
can stretch yourself on the ground
or lay a blanket on the ground and
sleep in comfort beneath the stars.
keep warm in the chill night air. So
the spectacle was witnessed Of men,
women and children who were new
comers bivouacking like soldiers with
out even a tent above them.
Only five years ago did the invasion
begin. Since then the desert has be-
come the home of about 10000 persons
on account of the large crops which
the soil has yielded. Usually most Of
the harvest in an irrigated country
consists of fruit, vegetables alfalfa and
sugar beets. In this part Of Califor-
MIA the people have also raised wheat
1t has also been found that rice can
be cultivated on a large scale and that
here is another corner of the American
cotton field.
The principal town. which is named
Imperial. is situated near the Mexican
border. It has about 5000 inhabitants
and has been created in the last four
years.
Much Of the country is as level as
billiard table so that the traveller in
the irrigated territory can see the farm
houses fodder stacks and orchards Of
young fruit trees stretching away for
mile after mile on either side, the dim
outline of the mountains being visible
in the background. AS yet vegetation
exists only near the irrigating bitches.
II is somewhat strange to ride over
what seems to be absolute desert, yet
to see trees and bushes growing lux
uriantly perhaps half a mile distant.
When the Colorado first began pour
/ Cs.t G f..l.