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Title: The Mentor: Reclaiming the Desert, Vol. 6, Num. 17, Serial No. 165, October 15, 1918
Author: Blanchard, C. J.
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Mentor: Reclaiming the Desert, Vol. 6, Num. 17, Serial No. 165, October 15, 1918" ***
THE MENTOR 1918.10.15, No. 165,
Reclaiming the Desert
LEARN ONE THING
EVERY DAY
OCTOBER 15 1918 SERIAL NO. 165
THE
MENTOR
RECLAIMING
THE DESERT
By C. J. BLANCHARD
of the
United States Reclamation Service
DEPARTMENT OF VOLUME 6
SCIENCE NUMBER 17
TWENTY CENTS A COPY
_Land and the Home-Coming Soldier_
To the great number of returning soldiers, land will offer the great
and fundamental opportunity. The experience of wars points out the
lesson that our service men, because of army life, with its openness
and activity, will largely seek out-of-door vocations and occupations.
This fact is accepted by the allied European nations. That is why their
programs and policies of re-locating and readjustment emphasize the
opportunities on the land for the returning soldier. The question then
is, “What land can be made available for farm homes for our soldiers?”
* * * * *
We have millions of acres of undeveloped lands that can be made
available for our home-coming soldiers. We have arid lands in the
West; cut-over lands in the Northwest, the Lake States and the South;
and also swamp lands in the Middle West and South, which can be made
available through proper development. Much of this land can be made
suitable for farm homes if properly handled. But it will require that
each type of land be dealt with in its own particular fashion. The
arid land will require water; the cut-over land will require clearing,
and the swamp land must be drained. Without any of these aids, they
remain largely “No Man’s Land.” The solution of these problems is no
new thing. In the admirable achievement of the Reclamation Service in
reclamation and drainage, we have abundant proof of what can be done.
* * * * *
Our thought should now be given to the problem. We should know by the
time the war ends, not merely how much arid land can be irrigated, nor
how much swamp land reclaimed, nor where the grazing land is and how
many cattle it will support, nor how much cut-over land can be cleared,
but we should know with definiteness where it is practicable to begin
new irrigation projects, what the character of the land is, what the
nature of the improvements needed will be, and what the cost will be.
We should know also, not in a general way, but with particularity, what
definite areas of swamp land can be reclaimed, how they can be drained,
what the cost of drainage will be, what crops they will raise. We
should have in mind specific areas of grazing lands, with a knowledge
of the cattle that are best adapted to them, and the practicability of
supporting a family upon them. So, too, with our cut-over lands. We
should know what it would cost to pull or “blow-out” stumps and to put
the lands into condition for farm homes. We should know what it will
cost to buy these lands If they are in private hands. In short, at the
conclusion of the war, the United States should be able to say to its
returned soldiers: “If you wish to go upon a farm, here are a variety
of farms of which you may take your pick, which the Government has
prepared against the time of your returning.”
_From a letter to President Wilson from Secretary Lane of the
Department of the Interior._
* * * * *
THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
Established for the Development of Popular Interest in Art, Literature,
Science, History, Nature and Travel
THE MENTOR IS PUBLISHED TWICE A MONTH
BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC., AT 114 EAST 18TH STREET, NEW YORK, N.
Y. SUBSCRIPTION, FOUR DOLLARS A YEAR. FOREIGN POSTAGE 75 CENTS EXTRA.
CANADIAN POSTAGE 50 CENTS EXTRA. SINGLE COPIES TWENTY CENTS. PRESIDENT,
THOMAS H. BECK; VICE-PRESIDENT, WALTER P. TEN EYCK; SECRETARY, W. D.
MOFFAT; TREASURER, J. S. CAMPBELL; ASSISTANT TREASURER AND ASSISTANT
SECRETARY, H. A. CROWE.
OCTOBER 15th, 1918 VOLUME 6 NUMBER 17
Entered as second-class matter, March 10, 1918, at the postoffice at
New York, N. Y., under the act of March 3, 1879. Copyright, 1918, by
The Mentor Association, Inc.
[Illustration: A MIRACLE OF IRRIGATION--UNCOMPAHGRE VALLEY, COLORADO]
_RECLAIMING THE DESERT_
_Irrigation_
ONE
Irrigation, the artificial application of water to produce crops, is
as old as agriculture. Genesis 1,17: “A river went out of Eden to
water the garden.” The practice of irrigation is probably coincident
with that of the earliest agriculture of record for the reason that
the latter was begun in regions of deficient rainfall in the Old
World--Egypt, Assyria, Mesopotamia, Persia, India, Ceylon and China.
Evidences abound of the existence of important storage and distribution
systems constructed previous to 2000 B. C. Even greater antiquity
is ascribed to similar work, the remains of which are found in the
valley of the Euphrates, and also in China. The ancient aqueducts and
subterranean canals of South America, extending for thousands of miles,
once supplied great cities and irrigated immense areas. Irrigation on
the Continent of North America was old when Rome was in the glory of
its youth. Centuries before the venturous Norseman landed upon the
bleak and inhospitable shores of New England a large population dwelt
in the hot valleys of the Southwest, in New Mexico and Arizona. From
the solid rock, with primitive tools of stone, they cut ditches and
hewed the blocks for many chambered palaces, which they erected in the
desert or on the limestone ledge of deep river canyons. These voiceless
ruins, older than the memory of many centuries, tell the story of a
thrifty home-loving and semi-cultured people, concerning whose fate
history brings us no word. The long lines of their canals, now choked
with the wind-swept drift of centuries, give mute and pathetic evidence
of the patience and engineering skill of the builders.
Early in the sixteenth century, when Coronada, the first great American
explorer, swept up the Rio Grande Valley in Texas and New Mexico, he
found a pastoral race dwelling in pueblos and practicing irrigation as
had their forefathers, perhaps as far back as in the days of Abraham.
The priests with the aid of their Indian converts extended the practice
of irrigation wherever they established the missions, and introduced
many varieties of fruits and vegetables from Spain and Italy.
Irrigation by English-speaking people began in America in 1700, and,
for fully a century, was confined to use in the cultivation of rice on
narrow strips along the coastal rivers of the Carolinas and Georgia.
The first Americans to reclaim extensive areas in the arid region were
the Mormons, who, in 1847, settled on the eastern borders of the Great
Interior Basin, on the site of Salt Lake City. Under wise leadership
and through community effort, numerous canal systems were constructed
and extended to thousands of acres of desert lands.
Between 1862 and 1880 many canal systems were constructed in
Colorado, though none was important. The success of the Greeley
colony, established in 1870 in the northern part of the State, gave
considerable impetus to irrigation all over the arid region.
In the last thirty years there has been an awakening to the opportunity
that lies in the arid West for the homemaker, and a remarkable
transformation has taken place in many parts of this region. Irrigation
canals long enough to girdle the globe three times now distribute
the normal flow and the stored water of Western streams to millions
of acres, which support hundreds of thousands of contented farmers.
Cities, populous and great, have sprung up, rural communities,
attractive and prosperous, broad vistas of fertile fields and
blossoming orchards have replaced the wastes of sand and sage brush.
WRITTEN ESPECIALLY FOR THE MENTOR BY C. J. BLANCHARD
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 6, No. 17, SERIAL No. 165
COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.
[Illustration: HIGH LINE CANAL, UTAH VALLEY, UTAH]
_RECLAIMING THE DESERT_
_Skyline Canals_
TWO
Locating and excavating several of the main canals proved almost
as difficult and trying as the building of the big dams. This was
especially true in the Yakima and Okanogan valleys in Washington,
the St. Mary and Flathead in Montana, Uncompahgre and Grand River in
Colorado, and the Utah valley, Utah. These canals cling to the edges of
deep and precipitous canyons, or hug the steep mountain slopes. Here
and there huge aqueducts of reinforced concrete span the chasms. For
miles the water is siphoned across broad ravines in iron-banded stave
pipe, or flows in tunnels through the cliffs.
The Tieton main canal of the Yakima project, Washington, for a distance
of twelve miles is through a very rough country. It is cement lined
throughout, and for two miles is in tunnels. For the greater part of
its length it hugs the side of the canyon, in places 500 feet above the
river. The lining for the canal was molded on the river bank, where
water, sand, and gravel were available for concrete making, and the
forms were carried to the top of the canyon by tram and cableways.
The capacity of the canal is 300 cubic feet per second, and it is now
irrigating 40,000 acres. The High line Canal of the Strawberry Valley
project swings around the steep slopes of the Spanish Peaks of the
Wasatch Range in Utah for several miles. At one point a portion of the
water is dropped in pipes to the turbines, where power is developed and
distributed to several towns in the valley. At various points along its
course the canal is covered with a reinforced concrete roof to prevent
injury and filling up from avalanches in the spring.
WRITTEN ESPECIALLY FOR THE MENTOR BY C. J. BLANCHARD
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 6, No. 17, SERIAL No. 165
COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.
[Illustration: GUNNISON TUNNEL. COLORADO]
_RECLAIMING THE DESERT_
_The Gunnison Tunnel_
THREE
Notable among the engineering works calling for courage and daring is
the Gunnison Tunnel. This great bore, which in a sense changes physical
geography, is excavated under the Vernal Mesa in western Colorado.
The river portal is in the famous Black Canyon of the Gunnison, a
precipitous chasm 3,000 feet deep, and the tunnel extends for nearly
six miles, 2,500 feet below the surface of the Mesa. The outlet is in
the valley of the Uncompahgre. By means of a low diversion dam, the
waters of the Gunnison are turned into the tunnel and transferred to
the desert valley of another stream. The early reconnaissance surveys
and examinations and the final work of determining the location of
the tunnel were attended with unusual dangers. The exploration of the
canyon, which up to that time had never been traversed by man, and the
careful and detailed preparation of a topographic map of this rugged
region called for genuine heroism. In the former task the surveyors
risked their lives for many days in the depths of the gorge, and, in
the latter, the engineers performed their duties under conditions of
great hazard and peril.
The construction forces met and overcame almost every difficulty ever
encountered in tunnel excavation. Gas, cave-ins and subterranean
springs interposed obstacles throughout the work. At one time a heavy
flow of carbon dioxide, or choke damp, forced the workmen to flee for
their lives and delayed operations until a ventilating shaft 680 feet
deep was sunk. The heavy flows of hot and cold water necessitated the
use of large pumps for months at a time. For more than 500 feet the
tunnel was driven through a remarkable bed of fossils, consisting of
the shells of extinct sea creatures, many of which were of great size.
Exposed to the air, disintegration was rapid, and the huge masses of
falling rock imperilled the lives of the workmen.
Notwithstanding the extraordinary care of the Government to safeguard
the employees, a heavy toll of human lives was taken. The excavation
work was projected from four adits, three on the Uncompahgre side and
one in the canyon, and crews of drill men and assistants simultaneously
began boring into the mountain from both sides. When the last charge of
dynamite had been exploded and the tunnel was “holed” through, it was
found that the line was true within a fraction of an inch.
Connecting with the outlet of the tunnel is a large cement-lined canal
which conveys the water to the valley ten miles below. Here it mingles
with the Uncompahgre, and by means of a complex distribution system of
canals and laterals, finally reaches the irrigable lands.
The Uncompahgre Valley is one of exceptional scenic beauty, and is
blessed with a fertile soil adapted to the growing of a wide variety of
products. Its irrigable area is approximately 100,000 acres, more than
half of which is now producing two generous harvests.
The discharge of the Uncompahgre River was quite inadequate for the
irrigable lands in the valley, which had been brought under the ditches
constructed before the passage of the reclamation act, and failure of
crops occurred frequently during the low water periods. In addition
there were thousands of acres of desert land in the valley doomed to
aridity unless the water supply could be supplemented. The Gunnison
River, flowing uselessly in its profound canyon on the other side of
the range, was drawn upon by means of the tunnel, and an abundance
of water is now assured for all the lands included in this project.
Agriculture here is exceedingly diversified, and in many sections, is
intensive. The products of the soil range include alfalfa, cereals,
sugar beets, potatoes, onions, peas, beans, and other vegetables,
peaches, pears, and apples. Surrounding the valley are vast areas of
fine grazing lands included in national forests, which furnish summer
pastures for thousands of cattle and sheep. The rapid settlement of the
farm lands has been followed by a corresponding growth of the towns of
Montrose, Delta and Olathe.
WRITTEN ESPECIALLY FOR THE MENTOR BY C. J. BLANCHARD
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 6, No. 17, SERIAL No. 165
COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.
[Illustration: ROOSEVELT DAM, ARIZONA]
_RECLAIMING THE DESERT_
_The Roosevelt Dam_
FOUR
First among the imposing structures of the Service in the order
of beginning and completion is the Roosevelt Dam, the important
engineering feature of the Salt River project in Arizona. Brilliant
and daring in its conception, diverse and complicated in its problems,
and stupendous in its structural features, the Roosevelt Dam stands
today an enduring monument to the creative genius of its designer
and builder. The layman will not appreciate the complexity of the
problems and the variety of obstacles that were encountered without an
understanding of the locality in which the work was carried on. The dam
is located in a region which was once regarded as almost inaccessible
except to the nomadic Apache, who found a safe refuge here for many
years. The nearest railway is 62 miles away. Twenty miles of this
distance is across a waterless, parched and forbidding desert. For more
than 40 miles the country, gashed and fissured into fantastic forms,
a region of stupendous canyons, steep sided mountains, and turbulent
streams, presented an almost insuperable barrier to ingress. It is
a region of colorful and inspiring scenery, but most unpromising as
a site for a large engineering work. The initial step was to build
a highway to the dam-site, a task of much difficulty on account of
the rough country and the unwillingness of white laborers to do the
work. The road was finally completed, largely by utilizing the Apache
Indians, many of whom were remnants of Geronimo’s band of marauders.
The influence of this experiment in employing Indians has been of
lasting benefit to the Red Men of the Southwest, many of whom have
continued on similar work for railroads and other corporations. The
Roosevelt Road, now familiarly known as the Apache trail, is one of the
most spectacular highways in the country, and thousands of tourists go
over it each year in automobiles.
The site for the dam was located at the entrance of the profound canyon
that Salt River has cut through the mountains. Just above the canyon,
Salt River and Tonto Creek converge in a broad, level valley, which is
now submerged to a depth of nearly 200 feet, forming one of the largest
artificial lakes in the country.
The Roosevelt Dam is of sandstone hewn from the walls of the canyon
in which it is built. It is of gravity section, arched up stream, 280
feet high, 168 feet thick at base, and 1,080 feet long on top. At its
base it covers an acre of ground. A building 209 feet square and 26
stories high would about cover the space of the dam except that halfway
up the sides there would be space for two more structures, each 11
stories high and 885 feet long on top. Owing to the long haul for the
railroad the activities of the engineers were varied and numerous.
The Government cement mill turned out 600,000 barrels of first-class
cement, the saw-mill in the National Forest manufactured all the
lumber required to house 2,000 people, and for stores, offices, etc.;
a hydro-electric plant furnished power to the contractor on the dam
and light for the camp; two farms were operated to supply food for the
employés; water works and sewerage systems were installed, and law and
order were preserved during four years of construction. The engineer
had charge also of a large commissary, a big mess, and superintended a
brickyard and cement pipe plant.
During the building of the dam the valley below was the scene of
unprecedented activity. A million-dollar diversion dam was constructed
across the Salt River to divert the stored water into thousands of
miles of canals; power plants, pumping plants, transmission lines,
and a thousand and one engineering details were completed in advance
of the great day when the turbulent floods of Salt River would be
conserved and led to the thirsty lands. On March 18, 1911, former
President Roosevelt, in the presence of an assemblage of nearly 1,000
people, formally dedicated the structure which fittingly bears his
name. By the simple pressure of an electric button the enormous gates
weighing 60,000 pounds were raised and released the pent-up floods
for irrigating nearly 200,000 acres of Salt River Valley. The swift
passing of years has been marked by marvelous progress in this desert
valley. In 1902, when the work was started, the assessed valuation of
the country, of which the valley is the larger part, was $5,000,000. In
1916, the taxable property values were $72,000,000. In 1913, the first
crop census of the project was taken and showed an irrigated acreage of
159,170, and a gross value of crops of $4,775,000. In 1917, the total
acreage watered was 201,600; the gross value of crops was $13,692,000.
During the same period the number of farms increased from 3,600 to
4,326. The net cost of the entire project to June 30, 1917, including
$3,500,000 for the Roosevelt Dam, was $11,367,000. The annual returns
from the land irrigated by it are more than $3,000,000 in excess of
this amount. The gross value of crops in 1917 was almost equal to
that of New Hampshire and Rhode Island in the census year of 1909.
In October of 1917 the Roosevelt Dam, canal system, and power plants
were formally transferred to the Water Users’ Association, under whose
management the project henceforth will be operated.
WRITTEN ESPECIALLY FOR THE MENTOR BY C. J. BLANCHARD
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 6, No. 17, SERIAL No. 165
COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.
[Illustration: ARROWROCK DAM, IDAHO--THE HIGHEST DAM IN THE WORLD]
_RECLAIMING THE DESERT_
_The Highest Dam in the World_
FIVE
Arrowrock dam, in Idaho, is probably the most spectacular structure
to the credit of the Service. Completed on October 4, 1915, it ranks
all other dams in the world in its height, 350 feet above bedrock.
It is of rubble concrete, arch gravity type, and contains 585,130
cubic yards of material. It was built by Government forces, and not
by contract, and its completion in two years less than the estimated
time and at a saving of more than two million dollars in the estimated
cost, furnishes a striking example of Federal efficiency and economy.
In connection with this important work the engineers built and operated
a standard gauge railway 14 miles long, which carried more than 80,000
passengers, and 14,000,000 tons of freight. A unique camp, containing
4,000 people, was established, with sewerage, water works, and
electric lights. Schools for the children of employees, a hospital,
postal savings bank, churches, and Y. M. C. A., a large general store
and commissary, blacksmith and machine shops, sand-grinding and
cement-mixing plants, all under the engineer’s direction, gave to the
camp the aspect of an enterprising and busy community. It was a camp
in which, for four years, there was no night. Throughout the greater
part of this period the work proceeded without interruption, night
and day, with three eight-hour shifts. Profiting by the experience
gained on other large works of the Service, and with labor-saving
devices of their own invention, the engineers on Arrowrock worked
with extraordinary swiftness and sureness, and established a most
enviable record for economy and time. The total cost of the Arrowrock
is approximately $5,000,000, and its principal purpose is to conserve
the floods of Boise River for the irrigation of 240,000 acres of land
embraced in the Boise project.
WRITTEN ESPECIALLY FOR THE MENTOR BY C. J. BLANCHARD
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 6, No. 17, SERIAL No. 165
COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.
[Illustration: SUBURB OF PHOENIX, ARIZONA--RECLAIMED FROM DESERT LAND]
_RECLAIMING THE DESERT_
_The Romance of the Desert_
SIX
A vein of romance runs through every form of human endeavor. No life
so sordid, prosaic, or wretched, but has felt sometime its light and
gladsome touch. In the desert, romance finds its chief essentials in
adventure, courage, daring and self-sacrifice. For more than half a
century man has been writing a romance of compelling interest upon the
face of the dusty earth. Irrigation, with Midas’ touch, has changed the
desert’s frown to smiling vistas of verdure. Its solemn silence has
been broken by the voices of countless happy people.
Our national strength is in its citizens, and the place in which
the best is bred is in the country. The threat of urban congestion,
no longer remote, and the pressure of population, which even now is
bearing heavily upon our resources, are unanswerable arguments for
increasing and making permanent the nation’s virility, prosperity and
growth by creating more country homes.
It is an economic axiom that the stability of a nation is assured only
when the bulk of its citizens reside in their own homes. The ideals and
principles for which our forefathers fought cannot be preserved and
maintained by a citizenry whose interest does not extend beyond mere
wage earning. The American desert was won by war, treaty, discovery and
purchase. Flying at one time the flags of four nations, its history
is rich in thrilling incident and adventure. Its milestones are the
bones of trappers, explorers, and pioneers. Its people are strong and
courageous. To battle with the elemental forces of nature has become a
passion. While the glamor of romance in years agone is dispelled, it is
still romance-land, but with a new background. The romance of creation
now pervades the once silent desert, and the dominant thought and
impulse is to establish there the well ordered life of New England with
all the highly organized facilities for making existence in the country
attractive.
American people cannot rightly claim to have measured up to their
opportunity until the deserts of the West and the swamp lands of the
South have been replaced by vistas of prosperous farmsteads.
WRITTEN ESPECIALLY FOR THE MENTOR BY C. J. BLANCHARD
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 6, No. 17, SERIAL No. 165
COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.
THE MENTOR · DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE
SERIAL NUMBER 165
RECLAIMING THE DESERT
By C. J. BLANCHARD
_United States Reclamation Service_
With Illustrations from Photographs Supplied by the United States
Reclamation Service.
Entered as second-class matter March 10, 1913, at the postoffice at New
York, N. Y., under the act of March 3, 1879. Copyright, 1918, by The
Mentor Association, Inc.
_MENTOR GRAVURES_
A MIRACLE OF IRRIGATION, UNCOMPAHGRE VALLEY, COLORADO
HIGH LINE CANAL, UTAH VALLEY, UTAH
GUNNISON TUNNEL, COLORADO
_MENTOR GRAVURES_
ROOSEVELT DAM, ARIZONA
ARROWROCK DAM, IDAHO
SUBURB OF PHOENIX, ARIZONA
[Illustration: MAKING FURROWS FOR IRRIGATION]
“_It is a grander achievement to expand the domain of
civilization by water than by blood._”
National reclamation was the dream of Western statesmen and thinkers
for a quarter of a century before a laggard Congress gave it form and
actuality by the law of June 17, 1902. With the passage of that law and
another which initiated the construction of the Panama Canal,--both
were signed by President Roosevelt in the same month,--the engineering
forces of the nation were flung into widely differing fields of
activity. With the Panama Canal engineers, the task, though herculean,
was confined to a restricted and perfectly well defined area. On
the other hand, the Reclamation problems were generally in regions
widely separated, remote from transportation, and often unsurveyed
and unexplored. To appreciate the variety and magnitude of the tasks
involved, it is necessary briefly to describe the general character of
the country in which these works were projected.
_The Desert States_
The great American desert may be roughly described as lying between
the western boundary of the Mississippi Valley and the Pacific Ocean,
and as embracing about two-fifths of the total area of continental
United States, exclusive of Alaska. The superficial area of the several
states that comprise this desert is almost equal to the combined areas
of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Germany, Belgium, France, Italy,
the British Isles, Austro-Hungary, Spain, Portugal, the Balkan States,
Turkey in Europe, and Japan. The population of the so-called desert
states[A] is 16,423,625, while that of the countries above-mentioned is
over twelve times as great. Within the confines of the desert is every
gradation of climate from north temperate to semi-tropic found in these
European countries. Its physical geography includes a wide variety of
features from the Great Plains to the highest and lowest elevations
in our country. Herein are found the most notable scenic attractions,
including the great national playgrounds of Yellowstone, Glacier, Rocky
Mountain, Mount Rainier, Crater Lake and Yosemite National Parks, the
Grand Canyon of Arizona, and the principal national forests.
[A] Arizona, New Mexico, California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Utah,
Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, North and South Dakota,
Oklahoma.
[Illustration: THE FIRST FLOW OF WATER
In Grand Valley Project, Colorado]
As to water supply, the desert belongs in two regions, arid and
semi-arid. West of the Missouri and extending to the foot of the Rocky
Mountains, is a vast area of foothills and gently sloping, grassy
prairies, which constitute a large part of the semi-arid or sub-humid
region of the United States. This broad belt, stretching from Mexico
northward into Canada, has no clear-cut boundary separating it from
the humid region on the east or the arid region on the west, owing to
the variance of the mean annual precipitation in many localities. A
convenient and easily marked line for the eastern boundary of the arid
region is one closely following the hundred and third meridian. On the
north it bends away from the meridian toward the west, and on the south
tends eastward north of the Rio Grande. On the west the arid region
extends to the Pacific Coast in extreme southern California, but from
Monterey north there is a narrow belt of semi-arid and humid country
bordering the Pacific Ocean. The Coast Range is humid, especially in
Oregon and Washington, where the rainfall is as heavy as in any other
part of the United States.
[Illustration: FORTY BUSHELS OF WHEAT PER ACRE
Shoshone Project, Wyoming. This was desert land in 1915]
The true desert, wherein the production of crops is wholly dependent
upon the artificial application of water, lies for the most part west
of the Rocky Mountains. Its estimated area, 900,000 square miles,
is probably slightly greater than that of the semi-arid region. An
accurate determination of the relative size of each, however, is not
possible until a comprehensive hydrographic survey has been completed.
Contrary to popular opinion, this region is not a vast wilderness,
desolate and unpromising. Between the mountain ranges lie many
beautiful valleys, through which flow numerous streams fed by melting
snows. Utah and Nevada contain large areas of sage-brush desert,
comprising what is known as the Great Basin, which has no outlet to
the sea, and is doomed to aridity by reason of the absence of living
streams. Millions of acres of desert now inhabited by the coyote and
the rattlesnake await only the coming of the engineer to wake to
teeming fecundity.
In one important respect the arid and semi-arid regions are alike, and
that is in the character of the streams. Almost without exception the
rivers of the West are erratic and “flashy” in flow, are subject to
long periods of drought and sudden and destructive floods. The full
utilization of these streams for irrigation and power necessitates
storage. In the control of floods, engineers have found their greatest
problem, and one whose solution has taxed the skill, imagination and
daring of twentieth-century genius.
[Illustration: WHEAT ON SHOSHONE PROJECT, WYOMING
This land was desert in 1908]
_National Irrigation_
National irrigation became a fixed policy of the American Government
with the passage of the Reclamation Act in June, 1902. The principal
provisions of this act are briefly as follows:
First. A reclamation fund in the Treasury consisting of the proceeds
from the sales of public lands in the sixteen arid and semi-arid
states.[A]
[A] These include the states named in the first foot-note, with Texas
added.
[Illustration: SAGE BRUSH AND ALFALFA, MINIDOKA PROJECT, IDAHO
On one side of the fence is the desert sage brush, on the other rich
alfalfa]
Second. A Reclamation Service in the Department of the Interior to
investigate and report on the irrigation projects to the Secretary
of the Interior, who, with the approval of Congress, may authorize
construction and let contracts, providing the money is available in the
fund.
Third. The return to the fund of the actual cost of each project by the
sale of water rights, payments to be made in a series of instalments
running over a period of twenty years without interest. The money so
returned is to be used again and again on other works.
[Illustration: A COMFORTABLE “DESERT” HOME
Having electric power for heat, light and cooking]
Fourth. The holding of public lands for actual settlers under the
homestead act in small farm units sufficient to support a family.
Fifth. The sale of water rights to private land owners, but not for
more than 160 acres.
Sixth. The ultimate turning over to the people of the irrigation
system, to be operated and managed by them under a system of home rule.
[Illustration: HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING, MINIDOKA PROJECT
This beautiful, fully equipped school stands where there was only
desert in 1907]
The policy of national irrigation is broadly paternal and of enormous
economic importance to the whole country. In the building of new
commonwealths in the arid West the Government is utilizing its own
undeveloped resources. It is creating opportunities for its citizens to
establish themselves in permanent homes in which patriotism, loyalty
and civic pride are bred and fostered. For a number of years the growth
of population has been abnormal when compared with the development
of the agricultural industries that must support the people. Farming
as a profession has been languishing and falling behind the general
development of the country. The rapid increase in land values has
made it correspondingly more difficult for the man of small means to
acquire a foothold on the land. Practically every progressive nation
in the world has come to recognize this fact, and is making provisions
to encourage and assist its citizens to undertake farming. The primary
purpose of the Reclamation Law, therefore, is to make homes on the
land. To the new empire in the West have flocked the young, the strong,
the adventurous, and herein we are witnessing a gradual welding of
all the Aryan races into a final race type. Signs are not lacking
that this type in time will dominate the world, for the desert offers
to every man his true birthright--room to breathe, sunshine, a sure
reward for intelligent labor, the individual home, and an opportunity
to become independent. Desert reclamation already has gone beyond the
stage of prophecy. The material and substantial results that have been
accomplished place the work of the Government on a practical and solid
foundation.
_The Romance of Reclamation_
The history of national reclamation is as interesting and romantic
as a tale from the Arabian Nights. Romance colored the vision of
builders that saw in the sparkling streamlets, the unchecked floods,
the wide, free plains and the vacant mountain valleys a promise of
independence, happy homes and laughing children. Theirs was not the
incentive of large emoluments, for Government salaries are notoriously
meager. Their inspiration came from doing a signal work of splendid
usefulness,--conquering nature in her unfriendliest mood for the
permanent and lasting good of mankind. As they toiled in the fastnesses
of the mountains, in abysmal canyons or far out in the voiceless
desert, through the blazing summer heat of the Southwest or the fierce
blizzards of the northern plains, this thought was uppermost, “By this
work we shall make the desert blossom.”
[Illustration: CHICKENS THRIVE
In the dry climate of the desert]
Their dramatic achievements stand out boldly in this age of engineering
triumphs. The mighty floods of western rivers have been checked behind
enormous masonry dams, several of which are ranked among the highest
in the world. Physical geography has been altered by transferring
rivers from one drainage basin into that of another. Whole rivers are
now flowing through tunnels that pierce lofty mountain ranges, and the
water is being distributed in thousands of miles of canals to a million
acres of desert.
[Illustration: FIRST SETTLERS ON DESERT LANDS
Settlers’ houses where once was the haunt of the buffalo]
Owing to limitation of space only a few of these interesting irrigation
projects of the United States Federal Government are here mentioned,
although each is worthy of extended description. The annual reports of
the Service are obtainable from the Superintendent of Public Documents
in Washington, and these contain full details.
In the order of their magnitude and the spectacular character of the
engineering work, the Arrowrock dam in Idaho, Elephant Butte dam in
New Mexico, Roosevelt dam in Arizona, Shoshone and Pathfinder dams in
Wyoming, and Gunnison tunnel in Colorado, take first rank. Several of
these are described at length elsewhere.
[Illustration: AN OREGON MELON PATCH]
_The Most Capacious Irrigation Reservoir_
In a region rich in thrilling reminiscence along the pathway trod
by the Conquistadores of Spain, Federal engineers recently completed
a monumental structure of masonry known as the Elephant Butte dam in
New Mexico. This enormous mass of rock and cement effectually and
permanently blocks the canyon of the Rio Grande just below the isolated
basaltic peak from which it derives its name. It rises from the depths
of the canyon 318 feet, and its crest length is 1674 feet. It owes
its place among the greatest structures of the age to the enormous
capacity of the reservoir created by it. Behind this towering monolith
the greatest floods of the turbulent Rio Grande are held in a lake
forty-five miles long and four miles wide. When full it will contain
enough water to cover 2,627,700 acres to the depth of a foot, or
sufficient to submerge the entire State of Connecticut ten inches deep.
This stored water, when needed for irrigation, is turned back into the
river and taken out at several points above and below El Paso, Texas;
180,000 acres in New Mexico, Texas and Old Mexico are being brought
into cultivation. The charm of antiquity pervades the whole region.
Here irrigation was practiced long before the first written word of
our history. Centuries before the coming of the Spanish missionaries,
a pastoral race dwelt here and cultivated this fertile valley along
the stream. A later civilization merely absorbed and extended the
primitive canals until the era of national reclamation aroused the
valley to new life and purpose. While some of the primitive methods
of agriculture, differing but slightly from those of Biblical days,
are still practiced, modern harvesting machinery is replacing the hand
sickle, the sulky plow supplants the sharpened stick, and the threshing
of grain is now performed by modern methods, and rarely by means of
goats and ponies. Splendid highways of concrete and macadam connect the
farming communities with numerous thriving towns, and the quaint groups
of adobe houses, which here and there rise in the desert, are the
last remains of vanishing races that are slowly giving way to modern
progress.
[Illustration: SIX YEARS FROM DESERT LAND
A rich and fruitful farm on land barren in 1912]
_The Shoshone Dam_
In northern Wyoming, near the eastern entrance to Yellowstone National
Park, the South and North Forks of Shoshone River plunge downward from
the steep slopes of the Rockies and unite in a broad level-floored
valley which in early geological times was a beautiful mountain lake.
At the lower end of the valley the river rushes abruptly into a deep
and narrow canyon. The entrance to the canyon, which is only sixty feet
wide at the bottom, was selected as the site for the Shoshone dam.
Before construction began it was necessary to blast a highway through
the gorge for a distance of eight miles, in order to connect the work
with the nearest railway. This highway is now a part of the road system
into the Park, and is known as Cody Way.
[Illustration: DRYING ALMONDS
On the Orland Project, California]
Nearly a year was spent in investigating bed rock conditions before the
foundation was placed. Enormous boulders eighty feet in thickness were
discovered in the bed of the stream; the removal of these, owing to the
narrowness and depth of the canyon, proved expensive and difficult.
Before any work was undertaken in clearing the channel of obstructions,
the river was passed around the dam site by means of a tunnel. During
the early period of construction the laborers were taken to and from
their work, hundreds of feet below the camp, by means of baskets, and
skips were suspended on cable ways across the gorge. Sudden floods,
extreme cold weather, short seasons, and other unfavorable conditions
greatly retarded progress.
The dam is a wedge of concrete, with curve up stream, 328 feet in
height, and 200 feet long on top. It has restored the lake of olden
times, and this beautiful body of water is now one of the attractions
of the trip to the Park. The stored water will be utilized for the
irrigation of 150,000 acres of land on the mesa (a high, broad, flat
table-land) below Cody. This region until 1907 was a worthless and
uninhabited desert. Today it is occupied by more than 700 farm families
and three growing towns.
_Conquering the American Nile_
[Illustration: LAGUNA DAM, ARIZONA-CALIFORNIA
Length, 4781 feet; 19 feet high. Division Gates, 17×33 feet, are the
largest in the world]
The delta of the Colorado River, in Arizona and California, is often
described as America’s Valley of the Nile. In climate, soil and
agricultural conditions it is singularly like the great valley of
Egypt. The conquest of this turbulent river of the West was a splendid
achievement. The engineering features of the Yuma project, in Arizona
and California, are in many respects original. The control of the
stream called for a long diversion dam and more than 100 miles of
strong levees. The dam is nearly a mile long, nineteen feet high,
and 267 feet wide on the bottom. Its type is similar to that of the
barrages of the English engineers in India. Laid on a foundation of
shifting sand and silt, it is held in place by its enormous weight,
600,000 tons. Owing to the quantities of silt carried by this stream,
the dam is provided with a large settling basin, sluiceway and gates,
by which comparatively clear water is turned into the canals. The main
canal system extends for twelve miles on the California side. Just
opposite the city of Yuma, Arizona, the entire volume, 1,000 cubic feet
per second, is dropped in a siphon 1,000 feet long and carried under
the river to the Arizona side. Here are 90,000 acres of valley and mesa
land, and more than half of the area is being developed intensively.
The soil is of great depth and extremely fertile, and the climate is
adapted to the growing of a wide variety of crops. The mesa lands which
are to be opened later are described as frostless, and especially
adapted to growing citrus and other semi-tropic crops.
_The Pathfinder Dam_
[Illustration: GRAND RIVER, ROLLER-TOP DIVISION DAM, COLORADO
Electrically operated rollers are lifted to pass the floods]
Far from the beaten path of man, fifty miles from the nearest railway
in a deep and narrow granite canyon of the North Platte River, in
southern Wyoming, engineers in 1903 located an admirable site for a
high masonry dam. Early maps of the expedition of Gen. John C. Frémont,
the explorer, indicated the spot as the scene of a disaster where these
adventurers suffered the wreck of their boats and the loss of many
belongings in the rapids of the river. Hence the name Pathfinder dam.
This is a beautiful structure of huge granite blocks 225 feet high and
600 feet long on top, and its cost was $1,000,000.
[Illustration: SHOSHONE RESERVOIR, WYOMING]
Judged from the service it has rendered mankind already, as a
preventive against disastrous floods and a guarantor of generous
harvests, it deserves a high place among the storage structures of the
world. Since its completion the North Platte River has been completely
tamed, and angry floods that once wrought millions of dollars of
destruction are now so distributed as to insure an annual harvest
valued at $6,000,000 in a region once occupied only by nomadic herdsmen.
_Transferring a River_
The waters of the Strawberry River in Utah, which for ages flowed
idly to the Pacific Ocean, are today contributing to the material
prosperity of a beautiful valley in the drainage of Great Salt Lake.
The transferrence of a river from its own drainage into that of another
has been performed by the Federal engineers on several occasions,
notably in Colorado, where the Gunnison River is augmenting the flow of
the Uncompahgre, the St. Mary River in Montana (a former tributary of
the Arctic Ocean, now transferred to Atlantic drainage) and the Truckee
River in Nevada, now consolidated with the Carson River.
[Illustration: PATHFINDER DAM, WYOMING
218 feet high, 600 feet long at top. Irrigates 220,000 acres; cost,
$1,000,000]
Strawberry Valley, Utah, in the heart of the lofty Wasatch Range, has
been converted into a large lake by means of a dam in Strawberry River.
The stored waters are turned through a tunnel four miles long, piercing
the range, and dropped into Utah Valley on the Western slope. By means
of sixty miles of cement-lined canals skirting the mountains, an area
of 60,000 acres of excellent agricultural land has been reclaimed.
The downward rush of water has been harnessed, and the surplus power
developed is leased to several of the towns in the valley.
[Illustration: ELEPHANT BUTTE DAM, NEW MEXICO
Height, 318 feet; length at top, 1674 feet. Creates largest artificial
reservoir for irrigation in the world]
_Reclamation Past and Future_
Fifteen years have passed since reclamation became a Federal policy,--a
short period in a nation’s life if measured only in time, but one of
historic importance when measured by achievement and progress. In
this brief span of years the Service has completed sixteen notable
structures of masonry and concrete, controlling the floods of
torrential streams, has excavated more than 10,000 miles of canals,
many of which carry whole rivers, and seventy miles of tunnels, mostly
in mountains. It has to its credit the highest dam, the longest tunnel
and the largest storage reservoir for irrigation in the world. By an
investment of $120,000,000, which is repayable by the farmers in twenty
years, the productive territory of the nation has been expanded by
more than a million acres, and there has resulted an annual increase
in its food supply valued at $50,000,000. Where once the wilderness
reigned, the hearth-stones of 200,000 people have been erected, and a
citizenship established which constitutes a new bulwark of American
liberty, and bulkhead the flood waters of anarchy. Thrilling, dynamic,
and inspirational, this work quickens patriotic impulses and stimulates
love for the republic that has promoted it.
[Illustration: OUTLET OF THE STRAWBERRY VALLEY TUNNEL
Four miles long, and connecting Pacific Ocean drainage with that of our
great interior basin]
_Reclamation Plans_
The plans of the Reclamation Service for the present and for the
immediate future are centered upon the completion of twenty-six
projects, embracing a total of 3,118,000 acres. To date, engineering
works have made available an adequate water supply for approximately
1,800,000 acres. In 1917, water was applied to about 1,200,000 acres,
and the gross value of crops was nearly $60,000,000. It is conservative
to state that with the irrigation of all the lands included in these
projects, 50,000 families will have been established on individual
farms. The taxable wealth will be augmented by $300,000,000, and our
annual returns from crops increased by $100,000,000. The area included
in these projects exceeds the total cropped acreage of Connecticut,
Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Delaware, and the estimated
value of crops after reclamation is $20,000,000 greater than the total
returns per annum of these states. In these estimates no account
is taken of the important increment to our national wealth in the
resulting growth of cities and towns, in the building of railroads,
and in manufacturing and commercial institutions, which in aggregate
usually equals that of land values.
[Illustration: THE NEW HOME ON THE DESERT]
In fulfilling its manifest destiny, the West has undertaken the
greatest and most splendid enterprise in the world--the upbuilding
of Man. It is doing for the world what the world needs most. It is
producing a great people. The sentiment of it has been expressed in
eloquent terms by the late Henry Grady, “A citizen,” he said, “standing
in the doorway of his home, contented on his own threshold, his family
gathered about him, while the evening of a well-spent day closes in
scenes that are dearest,--he shall save the republic when the drum
tap is futile and the barracks are deserted.” This pregnant sentence
epitomizes the final chapter of our Romance of the Desert, as it is now
being written in the arid West.
[Illustration: PRODUCTS OF THE DESERT]
* * * * *
_SUPPLEMENTARY READING_
RECLAIMING THE ARID WEST _By George Wharton James_
UNCLE SAM’S OUTDOOR MAGIC _By P. K. Fitzhugh_
DOCUMENTS ISSUED BY THE U. S. RECLAMATION SERVICE AND DEPARTMENT OF
AGRICULTURE.
⁂ Information concerning the above books may be had on application to
the Editor of The Mentor.
THE OPEN LETTER
On reading Mr. Blanchard’s account of the work of reclaiming the desert
for the people, the natural question that arises in the reader’s mind
is, “How does one get a government farm and what are the expenses
involved?” Anticipating this question, I obtained information from Mr.
Blanchard in reply to it. Getting a farm is comparatively a simple
proposition. Making good on it is quite another matter. In the first
instance, the Government has made the way easy and inexpensive. Any
citizen of the United States who has not used his homestead right is
qualified to make a filing on any surveyed public lands not withdrawn
from entry.
* * * * *
The procedure is about as follows. After a personal inspection
of the vacant land desired for a home, the homeseeker
makes application to the proper local Land Office or Land
Commissioner and deposits filing fees of $8 for an 80-acre
or $16 for a 160-acre tract. If the entry is made on an
irrigation project, usually he must pay, in addition to the
above, five per cent of the building charge, and, when due, the
annual charge for operation and maintenance. On the projects
containing lands now open to entry, the building charge ranges
from $30 to $75 per acre, and is payable in twenty years
without interest. The charge for operation and maintenance
averages about $1.50 per acre, and is payable annually. This
charge will vary on the different projects and according to
the amount of water used. Summing up the initial cost of
obtaining a Government irrigated farm of 40 acres, the settler
will find it necessary to expend $6.50 for filing fees; if the
construction charge is $50 per acre, he will pay $100 for the
first instalment and, when due, about $60 for the operation and
maintenance assessment--a total of approximately $166.50.
In the second, third, fourth and fifth years following, the
only payments required are the annual charges for operation
and maintenance, about $60. Thus in five years the settler is
obliged to pay to the Government approximately $406.50.
The balance of the unpaid construction charges are payable in
fifteen annual instalments, beginning on December 1 of the
fifth year, the first five of which are each 5 per cent and the
remaining ten 7 per cent of the construction charge, without
interest for the deferred payments.
The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to require the
reclamation for agricultural purposes and the cultivation of
one-fourth of the irrigable area within three full irrigation
seasons, and of one-half of the irrigable area within five full
seasons. Actual residence, covering a period of three years, is
obligatory.
On the basis of a construction charge of $50 per acre, and an
annual operation and maintenance charge of $1.50 per acre,
the entire investment of the settler at the end of the twenty
years’ term will be as follows:
Filing fees $6.50
Construction charges 2,000.00
Operation assessments 1,700.00
--------
Total $3,706.50
For a farm on public lands outside of an irrigation project the
only payment required is the filing fee at the time of entry.
* * * * *
How much capital should a man have to take up an irrigated farm? It
is extremely difficult to answer this question. Experience has shown
that success depends about 75 per cent on the individual. The chief
requisites for success may be stated as _energy_, _business ability_,
_judgment_, _capital_ and _experience_. Experience has been placed
last for the reason that it has been shown repeatedly that experience
in farming in humid regions is not a particularly valuable asset in
irrigated farming.
It may, therefore, be said that the average man who takes up a
Government irrigated farm of 40 acres should possess a capital of at
least $2,500, and not less than $4,000 if he undertakes to subdue an
80-acre tract.
* * * * *
As we ride on the overland trains across the great desert stretches of
the far West, our eyes are fed full of color. In the midst of the riot
of rich tints, we turn eagerly to occasional green spots that relieve
the blazing beauty of the landscape, and our glances linger there with
a sense of rest. These green spots are desert farms--fresh oases where,
under the spell of water, the soil is wakening from its centuries of
slumber and yielding up its stored wealth. These desert farms make a
strong, human appeal to the passing traveler. They tell an assuring
story of man’s return to the soil and of rich returns from the soil--a
story of well-being and content attained, in substantial, comfortable
homes. In some such modest way as pictured on the preceding page the
settler begins his conquest of the desert. The measure of his success
and prosperity lies in his hands. The wealth is there ready to be
harvested.
[Illustration: W. D. Moffat
EDITOR]
Uncle Sam a Generous Giver
The American Government has given of its resources as no nation ever
did before or ever can again. To thirteen Western States alone over a
hundred million acres have been given. The peoples of the world have
been called in and tendered homes. Now, out of an area within the
United States of a billion and a half acres of public domain, we have
left as public lands subject to disposal as homesteads and otherwise
less than 280,000,000 acres, not one-half of which, it may safely be
said, will ever prove to be cultivable. In one year the Department
of the Interior issued over 60,000 patents to land--donations from
the nation to the courageous pioneer. Any man who finds gold, silver,
copper or other minerals on his grant has them for the asking--a prize
for discovery.
All the revenue from the sale of public lands (less five per cent,
which goes to the States) goes into a fund for the building of
irrigation works to reclaim the desert. Over a hundred million dollars
have been so spent, which is, however, no more than a loan to the
farmers. Before attempting the governmental construction of such work
the Federal Government said to the States, “If you will irrigate
the lands of your State, or if there are private individuals who
will do this work, we will give you whatever land you desire up to
1,000,000 acres each, and set it apart for ten years while you try the
experiment.” Was there ever a more generous method taken of populating
and developing a new land? Those that took its lands were not asked for
even so much as the cost of their administration.
In doing all this with so lavish a hand the Government has been
expressing the generous instinct of the people and their absorbing
determination to “go forth and find.” For a hundred years and more this
quest has been the drama of our national life. It has given color to
our civilization and buoyancy to the hearts of the people. It has been
a century of revelation, and as yet we have only the most superficial
knowledge of what this land is, of what it will yield to research, and
how it may be best used.
But in all our giving we have been guided by a purpose--the land that
we gave was to be converted from wilderness into homes, or from rock
into metal. We gave to the homesteader, with a condition--_the land
was to be used_. We gave our swamp lands, but to be reclaimed. We
found our coal lands going as farms and we put a price upon them. We
saw our forests being swept clean or monopolized and we held them out
for the mass. Use! Use by as many as possible! The superior use! These
were the things we wished and these gave form to our legislation. The
homesteader may have 320 acres if it is dry farming or grazing land.
But he cannot have it as a speculation. It must be made a home and
brought into the body of the world’s producing area by cultivation. The
Government was generous, but it had no intention of being a spendthrift.
Lands and resources are at the full service of the people. And yet the
romantic enterprise of revealing America is not done. To get from our
resources their fullest use--this is our goal. And this is nothing less
than a challenge to the capacity of democracy.
Abstract from Report of the Secretary of the Interior.
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