The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1920-06-25
SEES COUNTERPART OF I'M.
PERIAL VALLEY AT OSOYOOS,

Of the big irrigation project just across
the line in British Columbia and but a
few miles from 0roville. 1t is one Of
the most complete reports of that en-
terprise SO far written and gives so
much information relative to the great
undertaking that 1t is republished for
the information OF the residents of this
locality, who are so keenly interested
in every partical of information on
this subject, as 1t is felt that the rec
lamation of that large section of terri
tory and its settlement is going to be
of great advantage directly and indi-
rectly to Oroville:
Osoyoos, June 15.-Of all the Sec
tons of the wonderful Okanogan, moth.
ing surpasses in promise this land of
Osoy0os, a valley within a valley, and
a bit of southern MESA transported
from the Rio Grande across the north
ern boundary into British Columbia. A
rare exotic among the valleys, l should
call it, with a climate milder than its
%neighbors and features existing no.
where else in the Dominion. For here.
alone in Canada, is found the Mexican
greasewood and other features foreign
to a northern country. The RATHER still
disputes the right of way with the
white man. jingling his warning note
foolish creature-ere his head Is lopp-
ed off. But he is becoming rare. Then
| was informed and checked the evil
dence carefully, that a horned toad and
a scorpion had been unearthed no
long since. But these desert creatures
now no more, only prove Osoyoos'
CAIN that her low altitude 600 feet
and her sunny plains bring summer
early-sO early that fruits ripen two
weeks in advance of adjacent districts.
The valley today is little more than
a desert. So was the Imperial valley
before life giving waters of the Sierras
brought wealth to the soil. The same
transformation is being wrought in the
case of OsoyOOs, that little known, Oft
criticized section of the provincial
fruit belt, which l venture to predict |
will, a decade hence wrest premier
honors from every other fruit section
of British Columbia. The big reclama- |
ton project Of the provincial govern |
ment is slowly working the change -
slowly, because workers cannot be
found, and workers, several hundred !
of them, must m%aterialize quickly IL
the work is not to be seriously retard- |
ed. Three camps of Is men zach are |
seriously needed and more woul0 be !
employed should they apply.
There are $4,000 acres of land in the |
tract purchased by the lands depart
ment for reclamation work, and Of this
amount approximately 10000 acres
Will not be under the main canal, but
streams and pumping operations
Will provide for this. Hundreds of
acres Of bottom land are ever now pro-
ducing good hay and the division of the
property will be so made thai a fair
proportion of the irrigated bench land
Will be on each holding.
The water for the irrigation of Oso-
is X from the Okanogan river
which drains Okanogan lake into the
Columbia. The intake is located some
three-quarters Of a mile south of VAS
saux lake, Immediately unde McIn-
tyres bluff. This cliff, 800 feet high Is
a vertical wall Of rock rising sheer
from the rivers edge. 1t affords an en-
view of the entire valley and
the reclamation work, a view which
makes the difficult climb we'll worth
while. Indian legend here again comes
IN. Years ago, the natives say one
tribe OF warning aboriginies trailed an
other to the edge of the cliff. Racing
ruriously on horseback the pursued
were unable to check their mounts and
they went.
Right under the rock wall is the new
with it's 19O-foot spillway. The al
tltude at the crest is 1867 feet. The
water is directed into a concrete canal /,
Il feet wide on top, 10 feet wide on the
bottom and five feet two inches deep.
one foot freeboard, the canal
carries ITO cubic feet of a per
second and will never take more than
half OF the rivers supply. The stream
mas a capacity of approximately $50
cubic feet per second, with a flood
Of $500. At this height the
water Is three feet deep on the crest
the dam.
crete constrGCal is 81 miles LONG son.
pipe and flume in others. The steel !
pipe has a dimater of 6 feet 8 inches.
and there is 900 feet of this each Sec
ton weighing over a ton. There is con-
siderable creosoted wood-stave piping,
) feet 6 inches in dimater, which, al
two inches smaller than the |
steel sections carries as much water. |
The friction is less. Along some of the
rocky bluffs leading to the tract steel
semi-circular and eleven and a
half feet in dimater, is being used. The
concrete canal, however is the import
end of the project. The form lum-
Der is cut by a mill installed for that
purpose. More than 100000 feet have
been required so far. This and 1900
barrels of cement, the latter used for
lining, had to be hauled long distances.
Huge quantity of concrete pipe will be
used in the distribution of the water.
When completed the reclamation
will be one of the most import
mt in the province. The farms will
from 10 to 20 acres in extent, &C.
to IN announcement made by
he Hon. T. d. Pattullo, minister of
ands, who is in charge of the under
Some suitable form Of selection
will be worked out so that all will have
IN equal opportunity in securing
A townsite has been plotted
,ut, with the main highway being !,
Utilized as the main street of the
town. The railway survey
the south has been shifted to a
good location, traversing the edge of
he river h0ff0m instead of cutting L