The Delta independent., 1923-07-27
THE AoRicULTURAl
DEVELOPMENT OF
THE GRAND MESA

bilities on Grand Mesa was delivered
before the Lions club Wednesday
evening. Farmer Putnam is one of
the most fluent writer's in Colorado
and this recent expose Of some of
the possibilities on the Mesa, accord
ing to Farmer Putnam, is published
in full:)
been up here on the Grand Mesa
the last few days gittin' idees for the
development of agriculture on the
West Slope and 1 want to make
report to you folks summin' up my
scientific observations and recommen-
dations which I hope will help this
section. Us dirt farmers hain't been
none too prosperous during the last
flew years and something 3 got to be
done to improve the farmers income
and help the towns, because they
don't do well when farmin' amt goin'
good.
Well I got a plan that. II you-all
favor It and carry It out. will give
you the biggest boom in Delta that
you've had since the first settlers
come here and started a town in
1888.
1 got my idee from the Incas of
Peru which was highly developed
farmin' country about a thousand
years ago. Them ancient Perunians
liked to live in high attitudes. so they
built up terraces on their mountain
sides. First they put up rock wall
about Is feet high and then they
would level off the dirt and rock
above It and make a fiat place on
which they growed crops. They had
abou ten or twelve of them terraces
on the sides Of each big mountain,
to make things grow in their dry
climate. they would run the snow wa
ter down from rim rock or timber
line, over the terraces in big falls
by gravity.
It amt hardly necessary fur me to
say more. You kin see the POSSIBLE
tiles Of terracin' the Grand Mesa be-
cause nature has already done the
biggest part Of the job.
And we kin improve on the work
OF the Incas by developin' electric
power from the falls to run the rail-
roads. light the towns and run the
factories, operate pumps to lift more
water from the Gunnison to the high
er benches around this valley
And we kin do more. We kin de-
velop power enough from them water
falls to run a cable that will carry
a movable stairway up and down the
Grand Mesa, like they has in them
Ii L. -ha1~ vn,, f,,c OF
has to step on the belt and It takes
you up to the next story. We kin
make this wide enough to run autos
on It and be carried up to the Grand
Mesa lakes without movin' = hand
or changin a gear shin. In this
way Delta will be as she Is today.
the gateway to the Grand Mesa and
right here will be located the turbines
that will be run by the waterfalls.
and right here will be the shipping
point fur all the products to be raised
on them terrace farms. and right
here VIII be the banks that'll guard
all the money that1l change hands
from the development Of this great in
dustry due to the farmin' ON the sides
of the Mesa And. best Of ALL 1t
won't interfere with the fishin' on
top.
And now I reckon you-all would like
to know how the Grand Mesa come
to be where It 10. These here facts
II they is facts amt never been
made public before. This all hap
pened about 5000 years ago. accord
IN to William Jennings Bryan's way
Of reckoning. OF course those Of us
that's descended-and say descended
advisedly-from monkey kin make It
800. 000, 900 years ago. Anyhow It hap
pened when the earth was bein' fin
ished by the Creator. You know this
here earth we're 1ivin' on amt the
first one. There has been other worlds
before us and the people on them had
about the same faults and good points
that people has today. Some was
church goin' folks, others was fisher
ermen: all the men played poker like
they docs nowadays and they was all
more or less human, Just like u.s. OF
course the fishermen in them previous
worlds had to lie Just about like we
do today about how many they caught
and the rules ag'in lying was the same
as they is nowadays; liars was sup
posed to 90 to hell. whether they
wanted to or not; which the result
was that many otherwise good citi-
zens who liked to fish and lied about
II, was sentenced to eternal damna.
ton fur a comparatively small fault.
not in their conduct. but in the law.
80 when the new world was bein'
formed-that Is the one we're now
Twin ON, or off of. this here question
come up OF what to do with lynn fish.