Durango semi-weekly herald., 1907-08-19

west, not emitting Durango as q
beneficiary. is the improved irrigation
system now under course of construc.
tion by the Montezuma Valley Irriga.
tion District With the promise OF
an abundance of water. homeseekers
are this early rushing to this match.
less land OF fruit. and 1t will not
be long until every foot of tillable
land will be occupied.
A daily stage runs between Dolores
and Cortez, distance of ten miles,
carrying mail and passengers, and liv-
cry teams may also be had, but
through the courtesy of Mr. Harry V.
Pyle. one of the busy real estate
men of Dolores, trip was made to
the Narraguinnep reservoir, fourteen
miles northwest of Cortez, where Mr..
w II. Crawford, who is in charge OF
the construction of the new system.
most courteously granted an interview
concerning the scope and progress of
the work
The Narraguinnep is a natural res
ervoir site. with a capacity of 1000
acre feet. Its water will flow through
the Hermosa lateral. of the old sys-
I TEN, and on down through the high
/ line onto Mesa Verde, watering that
portion of the valley below Cortez
The dame of the Narraguinnep is with
. In attr Nf MT
it was estimated. would require three
more weeks of work This dam is
built of an adobe clay found on the
site. samples of which were taken by
purchasers of the bonds of the new
irrigation district to Chicago for test,
and provedsas good as the best before
its use was decided upon Every lay
err of four feet of this clay is tramped
down by the animals used in hauling
it. The latest grading machines and
dump carts are used in gathering this
clay, and the work goes on with such
system that a constant stream of dirt
pours onto the dam at either end,
and one can but think what an easy
task It would be to build some sure
enough pyramids out of our adobe
clay with our new fashioned grading
machines and dump carts. This dam is
100 feet at the base, 65 feet deep and 1G
feet at the top, and will be finished
with an 1S-inch cap of stone.
A tunnel of 800 feet through solid
rock forms the outlet for this reser-
voir. and its gates will be operated
from the top of a shaft built within
the tunnel. In addition to this. there
miles of bitches and laterals to be
built. Work on the latter is being
pushed as rapidly as possible with
force of 100 men, and Mr. Crawford
thought it possible he would move
his camp to the Ground Hog before
completing the Narraguinnep. This
reservoir is forty miles north of the
Narraguinnep, at the base of the
Lone Cone near Rico. Its capacity
Is 1900 acre feet, and its waters
will be used to increase the flow of
the Dolores river.
There are ten camps altogether at
the different points of construction,
and total of 100 men and 800 ami
mails employed. 1t Is expected to
double these forces by the first of
September, as the entire work must
be completed by the first of May. This
means the doubling of pay roll which
now disburses from $4,000 to $50, 900
per month.
The men employed in the work are
nearly all Mexicans and Navajos. The
Navajoes are of the renegade type,
and though they work well and obey
orders, they have not their families
with them and cannot be depended
upon to remain long at a time. They
have their camp separate from the
others, and live in their own simple
fashion rather than to patronize Mr.
Crawford's German chef The march
of civilization seems moving with rap
III tread when within the brief space
Of twenty years the Indian lays aside
his murderous rifle for the steel drill
Stephen Day, a graduate from the
Grand Junction Indian school, is kept
on the grading machine and acts as in
terpreter. He is very intelligent and
highly regarded by his employer.
Mr.. Crawford, who has had much
experience in canal building. says this
is as good system as he has ever
constructed, and that the water fur
nished by it will be the cheapest in the
state, the first cost of which will be
at from $40 to $50 per acre. compared
thinks that land prices, now quoted
at from 10 to $50 per acre, compared
with other sections into which he has
brought irrigation, are very low. BY
comparison he mentioned the Pecos
river country, where he completed n
water system last fall, and where
there were no land values until they
received water. when they immediate
ly sold at $i5 per acre, and soon in