Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1911-03-24
ROOSEVELT SPEAKS
AT PHOENIX, ARIZONA

uned the streets Tor Dl0cks around
the railroad station, Colonel Roose-
welt arrived here today en- route to
the town of Roosevelt, where he will
dedicate the dam bearing his name.
Ihe journey from Grand Canyon
was without incident. - made no
speeches.. The entertainment con-
clu6es Monday. He stays in Phoenix
all of that day.
Hundreds of ranchers and OF
town residents came in today to await
Mondays program.
Phoenix, Ariz., Mar. 1S.-Adorn-
ed in gala attire, Phoenix today de-
clared three-day festival. The en-
tire population, mingling among
which were many strangers and "the
only living ex-president," adjourned
to the site of the Roosevelt dam for
the dedication exercises of that
great mountain of masonry.
The structure, one of the wonder
full engineering achievements with
which Uncle Sam is transforming
his desert lands into fertile and pro-
ductive farm lands, was completed
February 5, and formally dedicated
by ex-President Roosevelt today. So
marvellous has been the course of
construction of this irrigation dam
that from the beginning 1t has at
tracted the eyes of the prominent
engineers of he world.
It's dimensions are startling. At
the base 1t covers an acre Of ground.
It's height is 2SO feet, on top it is
1880 feet long. At the bottom it is
ITO feet thick. A twenty-six story
building covering city block would
not fill the space occupied by this
towering masonry structure.
Located in a canyon heretofore
inaccessible, 62 miles from the near
est railroad, the construction Of this
dam involved many problems and
taxed the ingenuity of the builders
to the utmost. Their first problem
was the construction of broad high
way. For twenty miles this traverses
a trackless desert and for AZ miles
more the road was literally carved
from canyon walls or blasted from
the steep-sided mountains.
1t is now considered one Of the
most remarkable highways in the
world. 1t opens up to the travelling
public country unrivaled in grand.
eur and beauty and makes easy &C.
cess to some of the best preserved
cliff dwellings in the southwest.
In preparation for the construc.
tion of the dam the government en-.
gagged in many activities. An i'm.
mense power plant was installed
near the site selected for the struc.
ture. A cement mill was built with
an output of 500 barrels daily. II
has turned out, in all, approximately
100000 barrels, at saving to the
government Of more than s615,000
Two farms were operated to supply
provisions for the camp and forage
for the livestock. Domestic water
supply was pumped from springs
miles distant.
Nearly 600 Apache Indians were
employed for several years upon the
construction work. A telephone line
somewhat over 100 miles long ant
power transmission line rs miles
long were both constructed and have
been in operation since the com.
mencement Of the task.
While the Roosevelt dam hal
been the principal single structure
in connection with the Salt Rivei
valley project, other important en-
glneering work has been going or
at the same time. A few miles below
the big dam another structure wa'
built across the river to turn the
stream flow into two huge canals
which, with their laterals, have {
total length OF more than $50 miles
This latter dam Is 29 feet II
height and 1000 feet long. The
canals will cover 10000 acres o.
fertile land In the valley and by thu
pumping stations installed by the en-
gineers an additional $4,000 acres
will be irrigated.
Especial interest Is attached tc
the Salt Lake valley project, not
only because OF the magnitude OF III
structures, but because II will re
claim a vast area OF desert land
This converted desert area was onc'
densely populated by a race which
has since utterly vanished Some
OF the prehistoric canals are toda!
utilized In the modern scheme OF or
ganlzation.
lne government has expended II
this project a sum exceeding 80,