Glacier County chief., 1940-04-05
BY EDWARD w. RITCHIE
Special Assistant to Commissioner
of Public Works

Special Assistant to Commissioner
Of Public Works
The Ruby river valley is intimately
connected with the early history of
Montana. Robbers Roost, reported to
have been a hangout of bandits, is
still standing on the main highway.
The town of Alder is in this valley
and Virginia City is only a few min
uteS' drive by car from the river. In
the sixties highwaymen held up and
murdered their victims in this region
and were themselves hunted, tried and
executed by vigilantes. The early set
tiers suffered many hardships from
cold and hunger, as well as robbers,
but we're willing to endure these in
hopes of getting some Of the gold that
had been discovered in the gulches.
Most of the placer gold has been
! taken from the gulches. Most of the
camps have been abandoned. The out
laws and vigilantes are gone and Vir-
ginia City, once Montana's territorial
capital, is now but a fraction of its
former size, but the valley still holds
promise of wealth to the Industrious
and provident ranchers and farmers.
Many comfortable homes dot the val
ley and sheep now Craze over lands
once terroriZed by Plummer and his
men.
Water Means Lasting Wealth
The state seal of Montana contains
the words, "Cro Y Plata" Governor
Ayers has aptly said that water and
grass replace the gold and silver that
are lost forever when taken out OF
, the ground, and that this same grass
and water will be the basis of lasting
wealth that nothing can destroy The
soil of Montana is fertile and given
water will produce abundantly, but the
rainfall alone is not sufficient to raise
good crops and irrigation is necessary
Water in many streams has been over
appropriated and their flow decreases
as the growing season advances so that
sufficient water is often lacking for
late irrigation However. thousands of
acre feet of water go to waste every
year during spring freshets caused by
melting snow. If this waste water
could be saved and put on the land
when needed. it would naturally in
crease the wealth of Montana.
The state water conservation board
is making an exhaustive study OF un-
developed water resources OF the state,
and, with the assistance of public
works administration. has been able
to supply needed water to third OF
a million acres of land The Ruby
! river project is one of its larger de-
velopments and 10000 acre feet of
water that was formerly lost Is now
stored in a great reservoir near Alder
! and Is available -OI uSt OAI VIC iN1A4N
when needed.
Project Cost 100000
/ Oct. 10, 1896, the public works ad--
| $4,000 to the state water conSerVa-
ton board for construction OF the
Ruby river project. The allotment Is
divided between a loan OF S286 600 ana
a grant of S234OO0 In addition TO
these sums the state water conserve va
ton board has invested about S8O.OOO
! in the project Forty thousand acre
feet of water will be stored for irri-
CATION of 10000 acres OF land, and
! 10 600 acre feet of water are sold from
this project to the Broadwater-Mls
souri, development near Townsend ana
| ToSton. o-
To Retire Loan in 1867
The charge for water Will be % cents
an acre foot, plus cost OF maintenance
| and operation. Cost of maintenance
and operation in 1889 was cents an
acre foot and in 1910. 7 cents. SO
total cost of irrigation per acre 1901
will be 63 cents year, and thls prof.
ect will retire the loan by 1867. Alter
that date the users will only nave 10
charges and should make a handsome
profit on their crops. Existing ranches
and farms are developing rapidly ana
some new land is being cultivated.
The original contract was let 10 loll-
linson & Arkwright. and work on the
dam started Feb Is 1887. Some diff
culties were encountered. The contract
ors failed and work was taken over by
the bonding company. J. l.. Mcbaugh-
lin of Great Falls completed the main
contract, excluding the concrete spill,
way, and finished construction April
80, 1898, so water was avalaple LOT
irrigation that year.
Due to difficulties encountered IN
building the cutoff trench and other
unforeseen expenses, this project over
ran the original estimates, and the
public works administration accepted
it as soon as the spillway had been
excavated to subgrade and the dam
proper with the control works COM
pleted. Excavation of the spillways
through solid rock insured safety OF
the dam but still left an important
part of the structure uncompleted. Inc
state water conservation board spon-
Sored a works progress administration
project and the concrete spillway was
finished July 20, 1889, with the as
sistance of that administration.
Built of Earth and Rock
The Ruby river dam is of earth and
rock between natural abutments. The
earth fill Is rolled into an impervious
mass weighing as much as light stone:
The upstream side Of the dam Is faced
with q 30-inch layer Of riprap to pro-