El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-08-26
lBy Porter A. whaIey.l

- ecos, Texas, Aug. 26.-This me
~ tropolis Of the Pecos valley o.
Texas is known as the Talked
About City" as the "City of FLOWING
Wells" and as The City with a Pres
ent and a Future" The history of Pc
cos is but the history of the Pecos val
ley-and that means the history Of ef-
forts by a small number of people to
demonstrate without cavil to an alto
gether too doubtful world, that the
Pecos valley of Texas has every essen
tial ingredient to make IL rival Califor-
MIA in fruits, Colorado and Utah in al
falfa and the great west in the beauty
of its aggregate agricultural develop
ment resources
Long Neglected.
For hundreds of years what is now
called the Pecos valley was unknown
TO civilization AS late as the early
nineties the Pecos valley was unknown
and uncared for, thought worthless,
passed by and unthought Of The cat
tie men had then been in the valley
for a number of years and they had
waxed fat and were growing richer. as
the hours passed, on the magnificent
grasses and abundant water with which
the valley was and IS blessed. They
cared not then for agriculture-cared
not indeed for modern luxury, nor for
the duties it imposed. They were sat
isfied with the golden harvest their
well fed cattle brought them on a
bountiful market.
Beginning of Irrigation.
But the world investigates, and in
vestigation brought out the fact that
here in the Pecos valley were wonder
full opportunities to grow that king of
all crops-alfalfa- Irrigation came
into being early in the new century
and had its beginning near Barstow,
on the Pecos river. Results there OBJ
tanned were a remarkable refutation
Of the early talk that the country
could never be made an agricultural
country. Suffice it to say that lands in
the Barstow section are today worth
anywhere from SIS TO ss0a an acre
The success at Barstow led to the open
ing up of the great irrigation system
watered from Phantom lake and the
springs nearby called the Balmorhea
section Here again success was the
result and here again also the lands
advanced at an even greater ratio than
at Barstow. Development then began
to proceed faster and on more concrete
lines. until systems have been put in at
various points along the Pecos river,
near the Davis mountains and near va
rious springs and creeks. The Pecos
valley of Texas was becoming known
Where its land had been planted and
watered its crops knew no superiors
and few equals Its alfalfa became
the best in the southwest and its
fruits were beenning to find staple
market.
sShallow Water BeIt.-
It was at this juncture in Pecos WI
ley DEVELOPMENT that the discovery Of
the vast shallow water belt occurred,
and with this, the possibilities of the
Pecos valley Of Texas increased
thousandfold-for because of the extent
of the shallow water belt and the
cheapness of lifting the water 20 the
surface, the practica bility of placing
thousands of acres of land in cultiva-
ton became a reality and simply
meant a progressive growth growth
which must in time revolutiontze the
country.
What the extent of this underground
water supply is is not known. Esti-
mates differ widely. That 1t Is very
extensive and that the known extent
is constantly being increased by devel-