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
$4,000 acres of new, fertile Mime
sofa land for settlement, 100000
cubic yards Of earth will be removed
in the Thief River valley and that
river enlarged from it's 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
TO start.
TO drain this land it will be neccs-
sary, to take away as much earth as
would provide loads that, in wagons
each containing a cubic yards, would
reach twenty-five times from Mime
apolls to New York or one and
quarter times around the world. 1t is
one of the biggest drainage plans ever
put into operation in the central north
west.
Under the supervision of the state
drainage engineer preliminary work
began last fail, and now that spring is
here and the opportunity is presented
for an early start, no time will be lost
in getting under way and the work will
go forward through the summer.
Big Contract Let.
The contract for this system was let
March l to the Northwestern Drainage
company of Grand Rapids, Wis, and is
Tnder the engineering supervision Of
The system provides for 497 miles
OF bitches and the same number Of
miles of highways to be so located that
each of the 1000 cnarter sections Of
land has ditch and a road along at
least one Of, its half mile sides. No
Rsuch complete system of drainage has
been attempted in this state to cover
any considerable area
considering the. rate at which tic
contractor must dig to complete the
work in two years, calling six months
working year and eight hours a day,
he will ta required to move twenty
one cubic yards a minute or about ten
cubic feet a second.r To haul away
TINS dirt as rapidly as dug would re-
Tying a 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 $iS5, o0o and will Will
be divided among three subdrainage
districts in the ratio Of their use of the
river as an outlet for each sub-system.
These sub systems are known as state
system No. SO. comprising about one.
teHCu OF lue area, anu Situated mostly
on the west side Of the river near it's
head waters.
The second sub-system Of this area
is known as county ditch No. 20. 1t
comprises about two-tenths 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 Hamre Of
CrOOkstOn. Work was begun on tins
system last fall, and about two Years
will be required for its 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 known as
judicial ditch No. IL.
Alive to 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 campaign 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 be made to arrest
the tide of emf gration to Canada and
also to interest many who are seeking
homesteads 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.
Statement 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 un-
dertaking is primarily due. Not only
did the idea originate with Mr. Brown
but he has been active in the prel i'm
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 worl, it was nee
essary for them to do follows:
he gg1 psS" 6 wealth a Rf ppt" o the
drainage of the area now comprising
judicial ditch system No. H. was first
through that territory, in company
with w. R. Hoag, drainage engineer,
who passed favorably upon the engi
n:eering ,rp problems a9s.. involved a at that i
f e' 2op othe 1" reasons ehef
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
sessed 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 survey
to be made of the territory in ques-
ton with view to determining the
possibilities of their reclamation. Such
survey was made by the United States
Geological Survey and report was
transmitted to congress Jan. 20, 1907,
and printed as house document, No.
COZ and further report was made to
congress by Richard A. Ballinger, sec
rotary of the interior, May Is, 1909,
and printed as house, document No. q.
The reports were 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 great diff
ference in the constitutionality Of ap-