The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-04-21

above the level of the water. It's verti-
cal distance from the top of the base
is sixty feet. The dam will be raised
five or six feet higher, i'm order to be
safely above highest known water, and
ii is to be padded on the upstream side
with clay until il shall become entirely
impervious.
A great railroad corporation, with
abundant rolling stock, alone could
have achieved this feat The entire
equipment of the Southern Pacific was
at the command of the engineers dur
ing the period of the work At times
even the locomotives on passenger
trains in transit were diverted TO haul
rock to the scene of the accident, and
quarrfes hundreds of miles distant con-
tributed materials to close the break.
Temporarily, at least, the Colorado
has been conquered, but. like the Mis-
slssipp1 in its delta region, it will bear
watching always. The Colorado is one
Of the shiftiest, slyest and most treach-
erous rivers that ever ran.
The original scheme to reclaim the
Imperial valley represented a design
upon one of the richest sections of soil
in the wOrld-a region with which the
valley of the Nile can alone be COM
pared. No wonder then that in the eff
fort to protect this region for future
generations, the president of the United
States has thought enough of it to send
to congress d special message on the
subject.
This valley viii some day be the
home of above 100, 900 persons on hun
dreds of thousands of acres of truly
garden farm lands if intelligent meth
DDS are employed. With a population
of something like 10000, property there
is estimated to be worth in the neigh
borhood of S5,000,0G today, and some
day it is thought it will be worth seven
times more at least. There were nests
OF little farm houses to be saved. tiny
hamletS or settlements, small villages
and larger towns clean up from the
Mexican border and the Imperial val
ley above the town of Yuma and the
government works at Laguna dam.
There were hundreds of miles of rail-
road to be saved, main line and branch
line, with their bridges, trestles. sid
ingS and stations; there are salt works
and other Enthusiastically a prize in
itself worth the fighting for.
The SaIton Sink.
1t was not so many years ago that
the SaltOn district with the Imperial
valley so-called was regarded as very
much as Dead Sea fruit. The country
was III AeltNJ q uI4Cu anu uGdu Scd. Inc
Salton sink was described by scientists
as crystalline chloride of sodium"
which is mostly salt, and the Imperial
valley was the undisputed home of the
horned toad and the diamond back rat
tlesnake.
Some curious persons. biologists or
others, investigating all this dry-as-
dust land, saw that the valleys were
really deposits of silt, left there ages
before when there was q river flowing
through, capable of the richest harvests
if only water could be obtained for it.
Rain was out of the question, and they
suddenly realized that right at hand
was the supply, all they wanted and
more.
Nature had kindly arranged the New
river, branch of the Colorado river, so
that it could be made to transform the
entire district without any trouble
worth the mentioning. Il had deposited
the silt over it all, and the very act
had raised its bed higher and higher
each succeeding century until it was
above the level of the land about it.
Ali that was needed. therefore, was to
tap the river intelligently, locate 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
HON. 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 flimsy dams, strung a
few canals over the surface and, sold
water rights to settlers.
In the spring of 1904 the demand for
irrigation was so great that another
tap was made just 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. 1901,
a third tap was made farther down the
river, about four miles inside of the
Mexican border. The location was
chosen because it would give greater
drop to the canal and it was believed
that the increased velocity of flow
would keep the channel clear.
This tap caused the trouble. They