Imperial Valley press., 1915-06-22
Imperial Valley,
A Realization

tains whose rounded off boulders be
token a series Of huge volcanic erap
tions long aeons ago, lies the great
Imperial Valley of California, spread
ing out from the foothills in vast
eXpanse of beauty and wealth as far
as the eye can reach.
Long ages it slept, known by but
few, disregarded and stunned by all
mankind. Lying there shimmerinp IN
its heat, silent, untrodden i'm its mes
quite wastes, it was regarded as one
of Eafth's dead places, the land that
God forgot" fit for nothing but lack
rabbits, coyotes and other denizens of
M Man Land. No sparkling
reams from snow-capped heights,
nor palm-lined boulevards, nor mead
Ovs green with succulent grass ON
which fed lowing herds, were there to
enrapture the gaze of the land hungry
settler
The hot sirocco came blowing
through the hills and bore a whisper
that for years no man could under
stand. 1t said
81 am the Great Desert. In my bos-
ON | hide the life which gratifies both
young and old. While to the weak |
may seem repellant, to the men who
Will and care to nurse themselves up
on my seeming waste am more than
generous. TO them give this life.
and, after giving, exact one promise.
Go, show the world you've gained for
what you've striven. Some know no.
what they wish, who ride or walk
DER my bosom, disappearing, wonder
ing why | don't unfold my mysteries
without some effort ON their part. Yet
down in my interior you will find
riches nnendlng, everlasting Joy and
recompense to the deserving of man
kind"
Such was the message brought
through the canyons by the desert
wind; but the unheeding toiler feared
to trust his fortunes in place where
he thought no water could be found.
Little did he realize of the others com
ing after him who by labor and per
severance would turn vast streams in
to these arid plains and flood the land
with what in this valley is of more
value than gold-the mud -silted
Colorado, which makes the bounteous
crops and brings prosperity to all the
people.
What a miracle of transformation
in this reincarnated Egypt was
wrought in a few short years, with |
this conquering of the most formid- |
able desert on the continent; and nov
Look up! the wild-eXtended plain
Is billowy with its ripened grain,
And on the summer winds are rolled |.
Its waves of emerald and gold.
Nothing is impossible to industry
hut We're those early settlers to re
turn to the Imperial Valley today they
would swear on a stack of Bibles i; (
was not the same land they had ira
versed-that it had been transported,
so to speak, and new land created
III its place.
1t was in 1858 that an Ohio man,
DR.. Wozencraft, first crossed the great
sandy waste and proposed irrigation
from the Colorado river, but through
series Of unfortunate circumstances
nothing came of the project, on which I.
the worthy and far-sighted medico |
spent the whole of his fortune and
died in penury of a broken heart from
the mis-carrying of the scheme. More
than thirty years later Engineer G. K.
lockwood while reporting for a Den
Yer concern ON reclamation project
in Sonora, Mexico, accidentally dis /
covered this valley and sent in a glow
ing account of the possibilities in the
way of reclamation work here. A
few years later (his firm still being
engaged in trying to get the scheme
financed) an Ontario Canadian named
,UdIlGA DCNdllC HllID lIilCl NoJCd anu
was the means of the deal going
through to successful termination,
though not without many trials and
set5acks, such as repeated breaking
of the dams and flooding of the whole
valley on one memorable occasion
nine years ago.
Recent authentic figures from the
Valley Chamber of Commerce prove
startling reading, as, for instance, the
fact that today there are $4,000 resi-
dents, where in 1900 they could be
counted on the fingers of one hand;
100000 acres under irrigation, and an
assessment valuation which has
jumped from $9,OO0O00 four years
back to $37,O00O0O, with a CORE
spending decrease in the county tax
rate of more than one-half; setting
out of over $4,000 pomelo trees this