La Junta tribune., 1913-12-20
SOME "REMINISCENCES
irrigation asd Farming COasl1oooas
Ar"sad IL Jsnta Compared %
Ths~e TWeaty Eeara ASo.

Tort Lyon cAnai IOr nineteen yeotos
and while In reminiscent mood the
other day I got to comparinE irrtEa-
tion conditions In 1913 with those 0f
1884, also the amount OF land that
Is now In cultivation compared wieA
that OF nearly twenty years ago. Z
found It rather interesting and viii
give you the result of my reflections.
In 1894 the Hoibrook. Otero ard
Bob Creek bitches were In their To-
fancy. There was but very littlGI
farming done. The Brannon ditch
out OF Timpas creek. the Model
ditch out OF the "Pscketwire," the
Pueblo-Ro Ford ditch out OF the
Huerfano. and others. almost all out
OF side streams. have sprung up
since. Is the water available for all
these systems- BESIDES these. there
are bitches every few miles. OF small
capacity. with the Arkansas river ~
the sourc. of supply.
The question is how are all these
bitches going to be governed accord
ing to priority There should be
some system. or else the old priort-
ties viii be- OF little value. All the
new projects. with rare exceptions.
are taking water almost without re-
gard to older rights. Others have
sold water rights to people who have
taken up land with nothing but n
promise to furnish water. Naturally
the fr.nxi.d land financiers are GO
ing to take long chances to get the
water at any risk. These conditions
must be stopped.
II is reported that the Model
ditch has taken several thousand
acre feet OF water which belonged to
the Fort Lyon and Amity ditches--
also two other cases. namely the
otero and bob creek. When thess
dssvNes srv having n run Of wats,f,
from their reservoirs the water ~
the Fort Lyon canal drops almost
to nothing. We are not blaming
them altogether. The fault lies
mostly with these smaller ditches
along the river. When the water
raises the smaller bitches get IT.
tie more water. aud by the time II
reaches the Fort Lyon th.r. Is but
little left. also think the per cent
OF evaporation and s-epage Is too
small In hot W-ath~r-that II, for
tn. long distance they carry the wa
ter.
II does not create very good
feeling with the ditch coinpani.s that
have expended great sums Of
money To better their condition to be
robbed OF the natural flow. II seems
To be- the sentiment OF \ great many
people that II does not max. much
difference II some Of the older
ditch~x are robbed. ss they have va
ter all the time anyway. Som. times
II takes = long while to rotate all
along the river. especially ~h.re you
have y ditch il3 miles long. Tn.
Fort Lyon has fought her battles
aud had al kinsis of trouble.
What \ glorious thing II Ma To
farm IN the early sos! Wheat was
worth 50 cents pss hundred. hogs
s?.s0 p~r hundred. alfalfa 8? 10 81
per ton In the stack. and u good av-
erss. for farm WAS $50 per acre.
People knew what hard times Srr.
In those days. You will probably
nay that II did not cost much 10 live
In the good old days. and "" VIII
agree with you. with this proNlso.
that II II had cost much To live there
would not b. many Of us her" 20 tell
the tale. The land where Norih Ia
Junts no~ In could have been bought
for from e3s 10 $50 per acre. on
easy terms. and this included a good
water right. One can pay s2oo PER
acre Tor the same now with much
better grace. The water assessment
WAS t:s per water right. and the
county taxes were In proportion. and
still the Fort Lyon went into the
hands Of n receiver.
These are Just = frw Of the hard
ships that We have gone through.
Now bc honest. don't you think We
have earned what We have Inside
of one year We will have completed
the biggest irrigation system In the
state. one which We can have rensou
to be proud Of.
In conclusion ! viii say that the
farmers under the Fort Lyon do not
want one drop 0f water that does
not belOng IN them. but you viii find
them on the battle ground. armed 70