The Salt Lake herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 1909-09-12
PROJECT. COLORADO. A CANYON VIEW

Wv WASHINGTON, Sept. IL - The
NJ state of Colorado has invited
the people of the entire country
to join with them on Sept. % in a unique
celebration, and at least one citizen, the
president of the United States, has ac-
Cepted the invitation. For the second
time in its history the people on the
western slope OF the Rockies in Colorado
are to have the honor of entertaining the
president. The first time was when Pres
ident Roosevelt spent about ten days in
that section hunting bear. Now President
Taft is coming to Christen the GUnnisOn
tunnel, one of the greatest projects ever
undertaken by any government in the
world
In a little valley in the western part of
Colorado this great work, which is moth
inC l.-- than modern miracle, has been
per. "sad In the lands through which
flC& CnCOmpahgre river unlimited
trea fs. has lain for centuries closely
locked in the sagebrush desert. On the
other side of a formidable mountain range
the waters which might deliver il flowed
between fTowniug canyon walls, but I'm
Gle Sans magician, the civil engineer,
smote the rock, and 10! the desert IS
changing under our very eyes to a land
flowing with milk and honey.
Gunnison Tunnel.
The story Of the construction of the
GunnisOn tunnel is one of uueqGalled dar-
ing and devotion to duty, 1t is the tul-
fillment Of a long cherished dream to the
residents of Colorado, for upon its com
pletiOn depended the reclamation OF one
OF the richest valleys in the whole west.
Years ago when the Ute Indian TeSerNa-
tion was thrown open to white settlement,
thousands of hOmcseekerS rushed in ana
took up farms, for the fame OF the Won
derful Yields, even under the imperfect
farming methods OF the Indians, had gone
abroad. It was only q short time, now
ever, before they discovered that the IN
compahgre river did not carry water SUI
ficient to lrrigate more than small peI-
ton of the lands. The only hope OF reieI
lay in the Gunnisou river tloWlhg USE
lessly in canyon more than ZOO feet
below the surface Of the earth. A wall OF
rock six miles thick interviewed, ana en-
gineeTs who viewed it shook their heads
and departed for more promising IltluS-
But among the farmers who had secured
one of the first water rights ana whose
land was yielding bOUntl1ul crops, lutIt
was man who still had faith In the teaS--
ibiHty of the undertaking. 80 Wei ul9
farming paw him that he finally tOuno
time TO represent his district IN the sIaie
legislature, and there he so imbued ms
colleagues with his spirit of optimism
that they voted $4,000 toward building
tunnel through the mountains. rms sum
however, was not sufficient I0r even the
preliminary work, and when the Iecla-
nation act became a law the residents pc
titioned the government to come out and
help them.
Interesting Order.
So one day there came to the resident
engineer of the reclamation service dI
Denver an order which read. "ACElse me
e II Is feasible TO construct a tunnel under
Vernal mesa to carry the waters or Gun
nisOn river to UnCompahgre Nalley, ne
order was signed by the ch3eI engineer,
No man had ever lived TO pass through
the Black canyon of the Gunnsun, blt
without hesitation the engineer = l.
Fellows. and assistant engineer w W.
Terrence prepared TO make recon-
noisance. Straight down $500 feet, over
the jagged rock walls to where the river (
raced between the perpendicular cHIls'
they We're lowered, carrying only ruO-
Der mattress. a few surveying mstfu-
rueuts and "a scant food supply. Ina story
of the twelve days those men spent down
in that inferno. whirling through rapids,
clinging to slippery rocks and making
notes shivering. dreuChed ana hungry,
found no place I'm the report which came
back to Washington, and when at the !
the mouth of DEVILS Slide. exhausted ana /
nearly naked. but with their surveying
notes safely euCascd IN Water-tght oil |
skin sacks. the first thing they did was /
to wire to the chief engineer:
.''The Gunnison tunnel is feasible"
Almost the next order from Washing
ton contained the order to proceed to !
dig. This was early IN 1893, and they dug I
10 such purpose that on July g. 1909. the /
last round of shots was fired and the I
men who had been buTrCWlng under the I
mountain of rock from either end shook 4
hands through the opening. But between I
those two dates all sorts of discOura ging /
DELAYS were OccasiOned by unforeseen OBJ /
stacies Poisonous gases hot and cold /
water and cave-ins were encountered but /
alvavs the work was taken up again \
promptly and pushed forward. Follow 1
ing blasts on various occasions millions /
of gallons of water rushed IN upon the /
wOrkmen, who had to fight for their lives. 4
At one point more than a mile from the /
west portal the bed of an old ocean was /
exposed. Deeply inbedded in the rock |
were millions of sea shells of various /
sizes The excavation here was easy,
but the shells rendered tbs. material ex- /
ceedingiy treacherOus ana every foot of
the way had to be timbared to protect 4
the workmen from falling masses of
rock.
Workmen in Danger.
In May of 1893 the bed of an old creek
caused a cave-in which cut off a num-
Der OF workmen from their companions
and buried several others. The men who
were OF, the outside Immediately began
sinking q shaft to rescue the imprisoned
men, Down in the darkness of that liv-
sng tomb The men who We're uninjured