Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1912-06-23

l'hNNlit lHt hAli tl ANlihlHAA
through the Colorado river. To di-
vert this water from the Colorado
drainage basin and turn Il into the
ltah valley, the enormous straw
berry tunnel, nearly four miles long,
has been bored through the Wasatch
mountains It's cross section meas
ures more than go square feet II iE
walled ana huttrcssed with timber
and lined with cement.
Before construction could begin,
thousands of square miles of valley
and rough mountain country were
surveyed aud manned and tunnel and
canal lines marked out A telephone
line 5s miles long. extending from
spanish Fork 10 both portals of the
tunnel was constructed, ana a wagon
road from Diamond Switch. the ship
ping point on the Denver a Rio
Grande railroad, 10 both portals a2
miles long was made, Down in the
foothills a diversion dam was thrown
across Spanish Fork river and The
waters turned into a power canal p
l-2 miles long, which dropped Them
through huge pipes on thc hlE tur-
hines 100 feet below Power thus
generated was transmitted electrical Is
% the tunnel site, whore Il was used
10 turn the diamond drills In IN
rock light the camps and run m,
heavy machinery The surplus hu
been Isolated from the world. th,
municipal and commercial purpose
The camps are located mile and
"A half above sea Level, during vera
months each winter have practically
been isolated fro mthe world, IA,
roads blocked boy masses of snow ana
ice FOR more than two years th'
work has gone on without ccasluE
three shifts of men alternatnp dur
Ing the tWenty-four hours Of the dal
and might Thousands pf gallons ot
water, poisonous gases, ana swelling
ground have made the work difficult
and dangerous,
In 1910 the work of placing the
concrete lining was begun ana since
has been carried on simultaneously
with the excavation of the heading
This required skillful handling OF
men and material 90 avoid delay I'm
either feature Of the work. Notwith-
standine the difficulties Of tho under
taking IL has been carried 10 COM
plction without the loss Of single
life.
Beyond the tunnel in the shadow
Of the granite paaks, great rescr-
Voir is being built. A retaining dam
of rock cement and steel Is being
built so deep that six story build
ing might be hidden behind II. Fed
by melting SHOWS the waters viii rise
behind this structure, covering $500
acres with 27S, 200 acre feet of Nyatcr,
The valley 10 be irrigated is cs-
pecially interesting because II rs the
scene Of the earliest irrigation by
Anglo SaXons In the west Settled by
Brigham Young and his followers in
lS47, after their march through more
than n thousand miles of unknown
territory peopled by savages II is the
Oldest example of community farming
by an English speaking people in the
west. For protection against the
Indians the farmers lived In little
towns throughout the valley, their
houses built close together and fac
ing q common street or square, thus
practically forming forts. Some of
these old community houses are stu
standing. The original farms We're
for the most part not more than 40
or so acres in size which may ac-
count to some extent for the early
success Of agriculture under extreme
difficult conditions.
When the storage and distribution
system is finished and an ample water
supply assured for all time, the valley
will support more than a thousand
farm homes Salt Lake City and the |
nearby mining camps will furnish a
home market for any Of the products, |
and three railroad lines which trav- |
erse the irrigable area, Will furnish |
transportation facilities to
the outside world.