Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1910-03-31
Territory as Large as Rhode
Island Changed From Swamp
to Fertile Farms.
Land Not Only Thoroughly
Drained, but Supplied With
System of Roads.
Men Who Brought About Recla.
nation Work Explain Magni-
tude of Project.

thief River Falls, Minn.-TO open
100000 acres of new, fertile Mime
sofa land for settlement, $500, OCO
cubic yards of earth will be removed
in the Thief River valley and that
river enlarged from its source to the
point Of entry into the Red Lake river
Contractors are on the ground and one
of the greatest reclamation projects
ever undertaken in Minnesota is about
10 start.
TO drain this land it will be nccrs-
sarv to take away as much earth 10
would provide loads that, in wagons
each containing cubic yards, would
reach twenty-five times from Mime
apols to New York or one and a
quarter times around the world. 1t is
on" Of the biggest drainage plans ever
put into operation in the ntral north
west.
/ ndcr the supervision of the state
drainage engineer, preliminary work
began last fail, and now that spring is
mere and the opportunity is presented
tor an early start, no time will be lost
lii getting under way and the work will
go forward through the summer
Big Contract Let.
The contract for this system was let
March | to the Northwestern Drainage
company of Grand Rapids, Wis., and is
under the engineering supervision of
w: r. TIoag Of Minneapolis.
The system provides for 497 miles
OF hltchrS and the same number of
miles of highways to be so located that
each of tie 1000 cnarter sections OF
lard has a ditch and road along at
!. least one Of it's half-milc sides. 30
8surh complete system Of drainage has
been attempted in this state to cover
any considerable area
'onSlderlng the rate at which tl,'
contractor must dig to complete the
work in two years, calling six months
a working year and eight hours a dav,
h" will = required to move twenty
one cube yards a minute or about ten
this dirt as rapidly as dug would re-
qulrc seven lines Of teams abreast car.
rylng cubic yard each.
Extent of Work.
Thief river is to be enlarged from
its source, in Thief lake. to a point
few miles above Thief River Falls.
This will cost about $l25,OOO and will
be q divided among three subdrainage
districts iii the ratio of-tAair use of the
river us an outlet for each sub-system.
These sub-syStcms are known as state
system No. S3. comprising about one.
tenth Of the area, and situated mos-ly
on the west side of the river near it's
head waters.
The second sub-systcm of this area
is known as county ditch No. 20. 1t
comprises about twotenths of the
watershed and is located on the east
side Of the river, along the southern
boundary Of the Thief river area, and
is in charge Of Engineer Iamre Of
Crookston. Work was begun on this
\-Stp IoSt f.,1I MI nj,n t,xrn
will be required for it's completion.
The remaining seven tenths, or about
700 square miles, comprises the cen.
trail, northern and eastern portions of
the Thief river area and is knowu as
Judicial ditch No. 1.
Alive - Importance.
This, section. of the state is fully
alive to the Importance Of the work
and what the reclamation of this land
will mean for the development of the
northwestern part of Minnesota. An
active campagn has begun to interest
farmers and draw them to the fertile
soil that will be ready for occupancy
with the completion of the drainage
canals.
An attempt will he made to arrest
the tide. of emigration to Canada and
also to interest many who arc seeking
homcsteads and patented land in Mon
tana and Idaho. 1t is advanced as an
argument for the land to be reclaimed
that it will be better than any ether
and that with the climatic advantages
for which this section is noted, the
land should be rapidly settled up.
Statcme of Prime Mover.
William J. Brown, of Warren, is
freely credited by the men who have
carried forward the Thief river prof.
ect as being the man to whom the I'M
dertaking is primarily due. Not only
did the idea originate with Mr.. Brown
but he has been active in the prelim
mary work necessary to get the project
under way, representing the petition
ers who applied for state and county
aid in the work.
His account of the work it was nee
essary for them to do follows:
"Thc great wealth of natural re-
sources and the feasibility of the
drainage of the area now comprising
judicial ditch system No. II, was first
Suggested to me in 1900 by a trip
with w. r. lloag, drainage engineer,
who passed favorablv upon the engi-
neering problems involved at that
time. The project, however, was i'm
practicable for other reasons, chief
among which was the fact that within
the district there were large areas Of
unpatented government land which
under existing laws could not be as
scssed for its share of the benefits
Hard Matter to Finance.
cit was thus found impossible to
finance the proposition and to that enc.
federal legislation was necessary. This
was secured in 1906 when congress
passed an act authorizing the secre-
tary of the interior to cause a survey
to be made of the territory in ques-
tion with view to determining the
possibilities Of their reclamation. Such
survey was made by the United States
Geological Survey and a report was
transmitted to congress jan %. 1907,
and printed as house document No.
607 and further report was made to
congress by Rio hard A. Ballinger, sec
rotary of the interior, May Is, 1909,
and printed as house document No. p.
The reports We're enthusiastically in ia
vor of the drainage, but when the at
tempts was made to appropriate funds
for the actual drainage, the western
house members discovered a great diff
ference in the constitutionality Of ap-
u