The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1921-12-16

mud, while streams and sulphurous
gases escape I'm kissing jets, leaving
orange-yellOw crystals around the
vents and scattering golden dust over
the slopes Of the mounds. Similar vol
canic activity occurs q few miles north
Of the United States line. One theory
is that the tremendous pressure en-
Grated on the underlying strata by the
deposits thousands of feet thick which
the Colorado has laid down through
the ages has caused the heat which
shows itself In the development of the
mud vents.
The Colorado has been q destroyer
on a grand scale, and q creator as
well OF strange geographic regions
and forms. But one of its most sig
nal achievements has been in the eco
nomic sphere-the addition Of hun
dreds of millions Of dollars of value
to the country. In this accomplish
ment the labors Of the river for I'M
numbered centuries must needs be
supplemented by brief, but all-impor-
tant labOrs Of man.
Ages ago the Gulf Of California
thrust a long narrow arm more than
$50 miles into the interior Of North
America, perhaps 100 miles above the
present United States border. Into
the side Of this deep gulf the Colorado
emptied near the present site Of Yuma.
Bllndly the river carried the sands
torn from the Grand Canyon and the
upper reaches Of It's streams and
dropped them into the gulf. Cubic
miles were thrown into the depression
and steadily a bar was built out into
the salt water. Eventually the bar
was built above sea level entirely
across the gulf and became q mighty
dyke, damming 1t. AT first a fresh
or brackish lake existed to the north
Of this dyke, while the Colorado al
~ternately fed 1t and discharged south
ward into the shortened gulf. But
eventually the river took a more or
less permanent curse to the south;
and the lake, no longer fed. and
bathed by the intense sunshine and
dry air Of the southwest, evaporated.
When this country was first explored
by the Spanish ~pathfinders, a half
century after Columbus discovered
America, this old lake bed. with it's
deepest point more than 260 feet below
sea level, was one Of the hottest, dry
est, most desolate regions Of the
North American co~ntinent-the Colo
RADIO desert.
Retaining q Fertile Desert.
And so 1t continued during the ex-
p~loration and settlement Of the West
by Americans. Many Of the pioneers
bound for the California gold fields In
the rush Of 40 passed this way,
and found the great depression Of the
Colorado desert the most fOrbiddlng
stretch Of their journey. Where any
thing grew 1t was typical desert vege-
tatiOn-cacti, grease-wood, an occa-
sional desert palm. But much Of II
was dry, powdery soil devoid of all
vegetation. The temperature was one
Of the highest on the globe, sometimes
reaching $50 degrees Fahrenheit.
But though the region was a desert
because Of the lack of moisture, It's
soil was a wonderful rich silt, washed
down by the Colorado, as potentially
productive as the soil of the famous
delta of the Nile. A few engineers
recognized this and saw that since the
region lay below the level of the
Colorado river It's irrigation would be
q relatively simple matter. Water
was first taken by canal to the desert
In 1901, and wherever 1t was led the
desert character disappeared. Al
falfa and other crops quickly covered
the one-time dead, scared soil with q
sheet Of green, while trees sprang up
beside the water courses.
The one-time Colorado desert has
disappeared to be replaced by the
Imperial valley, n of the most re-
~narkable agricultural regions Of the
United States. Where a score Of years
ago the Colorado desert did not pro-
duce a single dollars worth of crops,
the produce of the transformed I'm
perial valley now represents interest
on approximately half a billion dol.
lars. And the muddy Colorado can
be given, fundamentally, all the credit.
The Imperial valley might. in truth.
De termed a 'by-product" Of that great
scenic wonder. the Grand Canyon.
The river is doubly the valleys crea-
tor. 1t built up the rich soil from
the materials II gouged out in making
the canyon. and 1t brings throughout
| .he year the life-giving water that on
the canvas of the Southwest has
erased a desert and drawn In an agri-
cultural wonderland.