The Delta independent., 1910-05-27
PRAISE FRIEND OF COLORADO
Bar Association EulOgizes the Hon.
Meade Hammond and Speaks
of His Good Work.

|
of His Good Work.
At the meeting of the Western
Slope Bar Association held at Mont
rose on the evening of the 23rd,
the Hon William H. Gabbert, Asso-
ciate Justice of the Supreme Court,
paid the following tribute to the
Hon. Meade Hammond:
| Many engaged in the practice OF
law have achieved fame and dis
tinction outside of their profession.
| OF this class the bar of the Sew
enth district has furnished strik-
ing example. Not many years since
3. man, not altogether young, began
the practice of law in the town of
| Paonia. He was not educated or
! polished, but he possessed in an
eminent degree that which contri-
butes to success-common sense. He
practiced his profession with vary
/ ing results. Finally his neighbors,
| recognizing his sterling worth, elect
ed him a member OF the General
| Assembly. He had watched the de-
velopment of his own county and the
county of Montrose and appreciated
what vast amount of energy, COM
eined with little water, had accom-
Flished. The energy was here but
the water was not. The flow of the
Uncompahgre and its tributaries was
exhausted, and yet there were
thousands of acres in this vicinity
which only needed water to convert
them into fertile farms. He had
noticed that down through the al
most impenetrable Black Canon a
vast volume of water flowed which,
if diverted into this valley, could
be utilized in converting barren
lands into productive farms.
And so he conceived the plan of
tunnelling through the divide be-
tween the Uncompahgre and the
Gunnison as the means by which
water of no benefit to anyone could
be obtained, with which to make val
liable, lands that were practically
valueless. BY many it was regard
ed as impracticable and impossible,
but that was nothing new Fulton,
when trying to perfect the steam
boat. was ridiculed. Field, when he
planned to bring the old world and
the new-werld into. instant COM
munication, was looked upon as
visionary. In fact nearly every
great enterprise along new lines
which has been carried to success
full termination, has been ridiculed
at the outset. 1t was a gigantic un-
dertaking, but undaunted by oppo-
sition, he persisted in his efforts
as member of the General As
sembly to induce the state to un-
dertaek the construction OF the tun-
mel. which his foresight convinced
him would be of such a benefit to
Colorado and the Western Slope,
until he succeeded in persuading a
sufficient number of his associates to
vote an appropriation of $4,000 to
start the tunnel he firmly believed
was feasible and would accomplish
so much.
Under his direction it was COM
menced The money appropriated
did not drive the great bore very
far, but the discussion of the subject
by the press attracted the attention
OF the general government, and it
undertook the great work which,
but for the persistence of one who
believed 1T would be a success,
would still be a subject to talk
about as a possibility instead of
reality.
You know the results. The
counties of Montrose and Delta
took on new life. The towns of Mont
rose and Delta began to grow. Farm
lands have increased in value.
Thousands have come into this beau
tiful valley to remain and make it
their homes. Ere long the lands
skirting the foothills on the east
end west, which few years since
were regarded as valueless. will be
cultivated farms, the home of pros
porous farmers. The population of
this valley will have doubled and
trebled. The man who fathered the
enterprise which has wrought such a
change in this valley and in the near
future will cause still greater
changes, did not live to see his
dream realized; but when the his
torian of the future shall see this
valley from North to South and
from foothill to foothill. one great,
fertile, cultivated tract. he will re
than any other to benefit the I'M
compahgre valley. was Meade Ham
mond.