The Greeley tribune., 1908-10-21

Ever since the construction OF res
eryoirs and the storage OF water be
gan in northern Colorado, the raw,
nee Pass reservoir and the Boyo
Lake reservoir like the discover! OF
the northwest passage have been the
dreams of reservoir builders. Inc
problem OF the former mas beeh
solved by d. A. Camtield, the latter
by b. d. Sanborn.
1t is. however, with the Pa"nee
Pass investigations and its associated
and suggested enterprises that we
desire to speak particularly at this
time.
Commencing about the year 1890
and extending over period OF ten
wears numerous surveys were made
by private parties as well as by the
government reclamation service Tor
the purpose OF securing and saving
water to the South Platte river as II
flows through the northeastern part
of the state The initial suggestion
upon which these surveys was based
was the existence of very large
natural reservoir site on PaWnee
Greek south Of the hilly country
known as the Pawnee Buttes IN the
extreme northeastern part OF Neld
county. Pawnee creek is Hood
wafer stream, and iutermlttently
sends down large quantities OF nood
water which it was thought 10 De
impounded in that reservoir, but 1t
was also desired by all investigators
of the project 10 get an inlet for con
stant supply from the South Platte
river. derived from floods and
from seepage and return water COM
ing into the river as result OF lrrI-
cation farther up the stream. Sew
eral surveys were made during the
period mentioned, for that purpose,
generally commencing short dis
tsnce below the mouth of the Cache I
Ia Poudre river. This involved the /
building of a ditch over a hundred .
miles long and through very un- /
even and sandy country for the most .
part.
These first Investigations We're .
conducted by the Reclamation Ser
vice OF the United States govern
ment, by the Agricultural college +
of Colorado, as TO water supply
and by private persons and corpora
tions including Mr.. Camfield with
TO the feasibility, cost and
profits of construction, OF water
works for diversion and storage
While making these explorations.
Mr.. CamfieId and his associates dis
covered several other large ressr-
yoir sites. both on the north and \
south sides OF the Platte river, most
of them within a radius of ten miles
of the town OF Orchard These sites
were principally the jackson Lake.
the Sanborn Draw or Riverside res
ervoir sites on the noIen side. the .
nj 1.Af8 he
Empire reservoir on the south side, /
and also a large site farther east
on the north side, known as the
wildcat reservoir site.
After much investigation it was
decided to attempt the development I
of these reservoir sites farther up
and nearer to the river than the Paw 4
nee Pass Il and in the aggregate .
capable OF storing more water than ,
the Pawnee reservoir at a less ult,- (
mate cost
The South Platte Land, Reservoir /.
and Irrigation Company, the parent .
company formed by Mr. Camheld I.
for the development of the storage
waters OF the South Platte river
was organized and definite surveys
were carried on and filings made in
the United States land office under
the Act Of March 3, 1891. about the
3rd day OF February. lSSS. These
filings and claims Hereunder Gov
cred all the reservoir sites named
except the Empire, including the
Bijou ditch enterprise which had
lately been acquired for the purpose
of making il part of the same gen
eral Development enterprise.
The reconstruction and restora-
tion of the Bijou ditch was first ac-
lively commenced This ditch had
been constructed in 1SSS-lS9l, but
owing to various difficulties, had
not been entirely completed or put
10 very extensive use SO, in the
spring of 1900, a separate company,
known as the Bijou Irrigation COM
pany. was organized by Mr.. d. A.
Camfeld and his associates, Josiah
Work. James w. MCCreery and 5.
n. Shields About April !, 1900. re-
construction of the BijOu ditch and
the construction OF the Bijou reser-
yoir We're commenced, and after the
usual vicissitudes. covering a period
of three or four years. were COM
pleted so as to provide in part Tor
the irrigation OF about 80 600 acres
of land, most OF it new land which
had not then been irrigated.
The Bijou ditch is thirty-three
miles long takes its water supply
from the South Platte river near
Hardin station on the Union Paci-
tic railway in Weld county, 1t runs
thence in an easterly direction south
of the river to point about three
miles south of the Burlington rail-
road in Morgan county, about ten
miles west OF the town of Fort Nor
gan. The headgate is 6 feet wide,
and the ditch has a capacity OF over
800 cubic feet per second of time.
The Bijou ditch, together with the