USA > California > Imperial County > The history of Imperial County, California > Part 2
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This shows that the original projectors of this great reclamation en- terprise were not idle dreamers, as many short-sighted people in that region even had openly declared.
This great Colorado River has often been called the Nile of America because of the rich and fertile sediment carried down by its waters, and also because of similarity of climate and water supply.
The agricultural development has run in well marked stages, begin- ning on the new land as each section was developed, with barley, alfalfa following, and then coming by degrees more intensive operations. Bar- ley ranks first among the grains, milo following, with comparatively small production of wheat. But in late years cotton has become the chief crop of the Valley in acreage and value. Fat cattle, sheep and hogs are shipped in great numbers, and the dairy industry has taken second place
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among California counties. Imperial County leads the world in acreage of cantaloupes, while grapes and asparagus are important early prod- ucts. But for the slow progress of propagation, dates would long before this have become a most important product. The annual productive- ness of Imperial Valley has reached a range of from twenty to forty million dollars a year.
The products of this reclaimed land have already been increased in number. One of these new crops is the Egyptian long staple cotton, which gives very profitable crops of fibre and which is most valuable in the textile markets, bringing over 22 cents a pound previous to the re- cent advance in all varieties of cotton because of the war.
Of course, the climate of this Imperial Valley is very warm in sum- mer, from April to October, often reaching 100 in the shade. And yet the air is so exceptionally dry as to permit work even during the hot- test days without great discomfort. The wet and dry bulb thermometers show a greater variation than in a humid country, being about five de- grees in the latter during the summer and about 31 degrees in this valley.
SOME EARLY IRRIGATION HISTORY
This having been the supreme creative factor in the reclamation of this great desert waste makes it imperative that some specific mention should be made here. But the reader will find this subject treated with scientific detail in subsequent chapters of this work by the most competent au- thority in the land. And this man once dreamed of writing a romantic history of this wonderful valley. And if space were at command in this volume a thrilling and racy thread of romance could be interwoven in this story-fabric of detail that begins with the discovery of this sandy- sink of the Colorado Desert, and follows down the years of its develop- ment and reclamation until the glowing results of today were reached.
But for irrigation there could, of course, have been no Imperial Val- ley nor any Imperial County to write about.
Without entering deeply into the ancient history of irrigation and the date of its origin, it may be said that modern scientists seem to agree that it was in use in very ancient times, and was used in this hemisphere at the dawn of civilization. Early explorers found extensive and suc- cessful systems in Mexico, Central America and Peru. Even in our own land are traces of early irrigation projects that had been carried
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out along the Colorado, Rio Grande and Gila Rivers. In India some of the most costly and magnificent engineering enterprises of this kind are found today. And most of the foreign countries are operating extensive systems of this kind.
Modern reclamation in America in 1890 had nearly four million arid acres to its credit. But these systems were in no way comparable with those used in this Imperial Valley in extent. The reclaimed area in this valley at this time is far greater than was the total in the southern third of California in 1890. In India there are twenty-five million acres of such land, in Egypt about six millions, Italy about three millions, France 400,000, and in the United States about four millions of arid acres. Thus some forty millions of arid acres have been brought under successful cultivation by irrigation. Not, however, until 1902 was the construction of irrigation systems under the control of the Secretary of the Interior begun. This plan has been successfully carried out since then by the Reclamation service, the sole purpose being the transforma- tion of desert lands into attractive and productive farm property.
The Colorado Desert was visited at least by military parties in 1846, and geological investigations were made in 1853. It was surveyed by government contractors in 1855 and 1856, and the overland stations were established there in 1858. It was resurveyed in 1880, and finally crossed by the railway soon after. The reclamation project was pro- posed in 1892, and again in 1902, which finally resulted in the adoption of the irrigation scheme. Since that time the enterprise has been duly exploited in the public press.
This tract in 1846, being still a part of the Mexican territory, was frequently visited by Mexican desperadoes, and General Phil Kearny's famous expedition by the Santa Fe Trail to the coast crossed the Valley. With this expedition was a corps of government engineers who were to make observations and report as to the topography, natural history and geography of the region. The date of this report was November, 1855. It stated that at the ford of the Colorado, where the engineers crossed, the river was 1500 feet wide and flowed at the rate of 11/2 miles per hour, the greatest depth there being four feet. The banks were not over four feet high, and evidences of overflow were found. The water was torpid and hence immense drifts of sand were encoun- tered. A few days later a basin or lake was reached (probably Badger
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Lake, now dry) and this was then about 3/4x1/2 mile in extent and too salt for the use of man or beast. Their report of this desert contained this: "Ninety miles from water to water is an immense triangular plain bounded on one side by the Colorado River, on the west by the Cordil- leras of California, on the northeast by a chain of mountains running southeast and northwest." This report has a record of many hardships endured by the men under Lieutenant W. H. Morey, who was in charge. They had a sharp engagement with the Mexicans at Los Angeles, where he planted the American flag to stay, however.
Another military expedition was sent out in 1853 under Lieutenant Williamson, with Professor William P. Blake as naturalist, who after- ward wrote a graphic description of the desert and the result of his geological studies there. He concluded that the physical aspects of the desert were due to flood erosion upon rocks near Palm Springs. He also predicted that potable water could be obtained from artesian wells in that region, which proved true 35 years later, and again by the engineers of the Southern Pacific railway.
In 1858 the first overland mail route between St. Louis and San Fran- cisco was established, it being known as the Butterfield Stage Line. This trip took 22 days and was made every two weeks. There were three stage stations on the desert. That same year, however, America had a much more important event to record in that region. This was the dis- covery of the possibility of reclaiming this Colorado Desert. Dr. Oliver M. Wozencraft, a native of Ohio, who had been educated in Kentucky, was the first man who seriously proposed to bring the waters of the Colorado River into this sink for the purpose of agriculture by irriga- tion. Like many other men who have conceived great ideas ahead of their time, Dr. Wozencraft was laughed at as an airy dreamer at the time. But he had this project so thoroughly mapped out in his mind that had it not been for the breaking out of the Civil war in 1860, the full consummation of his plans would probably have been carried out, or at least begun at that very time. And it is interesting to note here that his original ideas were very similar to those embodied in the final proj- ect which were carried out so many years later. But he joined the great gold rush in 1849, being the Indian agent at the time. He was also in- strumental in securing the railway line from the east to cross this des- ert. In his diary of that time he describes most graphically his first ex-
VIEW OF BLUE LAKE
Adjoining the townsite of Silsbee. Taken September 21, 1901. The lake was almost circular in shape, covered about 300 acres, and was fringed with mesquite trees. During the Colorado overflow in 1906 the lake was drained and obliterated
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cursion to that region in May, 1849, which might well be quoted here in full if space permitted. It was on this trip when he first conceived the idea of reclaiming this great desert. He presented his scheme to the California Legislature, which promptly ceded him all state rights in the construction of his proposed reclamation plan of this desert waste. He next took the matter to Congress, where he received a favorable report from the committee in charge. But then the crash of arms at Fort Sumter prevented any further action at the time. At the close of the war he lost no time in the prosecution of his one absorbing purpose. But during the troubles attendant upon the reconstruction period after the war it was crowded aside from time to time in the maze of national affairs. Thus on the eve of the session in 1887, when another hearing had been promised him, he was suddenly stricken ill and died. In writ- ing of her father's pet project afterward, his daughter said he had lost a fortune and had finally given up his life in the effort to achieve suc- cess. And yet some think he was ahead of his time, the precise period for the consummation of his project, even if successfully carried out at that time, might not have proved for the best interests of the region. The railway was not built until 20 years later. And yet Dr. Wozencraft is still credited as being the "father of the Imperial Valley."
THE COLORADO ASSERTS ITSELF
Among the first travelers on the new railway line was Mr. H. S. Wor- thington of Kentucky. He, too, saw the great latent possibilities that presented themselves in this valley and he enlisted the interest of finan- cial friends in the matter, and tried to induce eastern capitalists to join in the project. But nothing came of it. Then in 1883 the New Liverpool Salt Company viewed the matter from a wholly different side. They filed on some of this salt land, leased a portion of the railway and went to work scraping the salt in vast layers from many square miles of these salt bottoms, using steam plows and then purifying the product. It was the economic and business end of the proposition as it then presented itself which appealed to this company. And their profits were large until the great Colorado River came down as of yore and protested to such a mercenary perversion of its natural advantages. This flood came in 1905, 1906 and 1907, and the salt company's plant was wiped out com- pletely for all time. Then the great river had its way and left a great
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1
lake sleeping in the sun, which finally absorbed the water and left an- other great waste.
But now the great transformation was close at hand. The Colorado was here flowing nearly fifty feet above the sea, while the floor of the valley, in some places, was 150 feet below the sea. It was thus easy for the engineer to see the possibilities for irrigation of this great sunken valley. The railway crossing this desert made a ready market for all products of the soil. And yet at that time little was known of the mar- velous fertility of this salt sediment. But the early settlers were im- pressed with the combination of favoring conditions. Careful observers and writers of that period began, even in January, 1901, to predict won- drous things for the Valley under proper irrigation.
It was seen that the territory was distinctly an agricultural section, and must depend upon that feature alone for success after its reclama- tion. Government students found five kinds of soil in this basin : dune sand, sand, sandy loam, loam and clay. This material had blown into the desert from the beaches on the west and northwest, and would eventually, in combination with the other soils, form good arable land, they thought. The underlying subsoil had much organic matter, includ- ing nitrogen and potash. And yet it was said that less than one per cent of all the land in this basin would prove worthless for high cultivation. But the result was far better than any had hoped for.
At Yuma this Colorado water was analyzed and found to carry silt having a fertilizing value of $1.65 to each three-acre foot. Climate, soil and air therefore here formed a combination of necessary factors for productive success in this Imperial Valley. The Secretary of Agricul- ture at Washington in 1910 said: "We must look to the west, especially the reclaimed west, to add sufficiently to our productive area, and to care for the increased demand which the next few years will show."
Here was the Southern Pacific railway. with enormous capital and every facility, controlled by men keenly alive to the importance of the business of this Valley, who knew that the company's interests were closely connected with the development of the Valley. Of course, the early settlers were confronted with the high cost of transportation and living expenses generally. But this was materially offset by cheap poul- try, eggs, dairy products, honey and some vegetables. Water for domes- tic use in the midst of a desert with streams of alkali deposits was, of
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HISTORY OF IMPERIAL COUNTY
course, a serious problem at first. And yet it was found that during eight months of the year, after proper filtration, this water was potable and even healthful.
Such, then, were some of the economic conditions that prevailed in this Imperial Valley in the summer of 1902 when the district had al- ready become a recognized factor in the scheme of reclamation. The towns of Calexico and Imperial were well organized and the population was increasing. And yet it must be said there was some anxiety regard- ing the narrow stream of water flowing from the Colorado to the dis- tributing canals of the mutual water companies. Anything that might interfere with the even flow of this water would, of course, endanger the whole enterprise. But the commercial progress of the region during 1902 and 1903 continued rapid and was greatly accelerated by the con- struction of the branch railway from the Southern Pacific at Old Beach, though only grading had been begun on this contract at first. The com- pany soon took up the work in earnest and the road was completed early in 1903. This gave the Valley a great boom. In April of that year the total acreage in crops was about 25,000, 6220 in wheat, 14,423 in barley and smaller areas in other grains and alfalfa. Then there were large areas devoted to fruit, melons and other vegetables. These crops would have been much larger in fact but for the inadequate supply of canals owing to financial difficulties. But in the following year this acre- age had been increased to 100,000 and the population to about 7000. In 1904 the steam railway line had been extended to Calexico, which was already a thriving trade center. The towns of Brawley and Silsbee were next reached by the canal system, and water companies Nos. 4, 5 and 7 began operations. The town of Imperial grew with marvelous rapidity, a fine hotel and various other business houses being built. About that time the Imperial Land Company became an important factor in the progress and development of this place. But at this stage some defect was discovered in construction at the Hanlon headgate. It was found too small, and the money needed to remedy the evil could not be had at that time. In addition to this, the Department of Agriculture at Wash- ington made an attack upon the soil and they also claimed, through the Reclamation Service officials, that Imperial Valley had really no right to use this Colorado water. But as usual, these matters were temporar- ily adjusted and overcome for the time, however. But there were vari-
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HISTORY OF IMPERIAL COUNTY
ous other obstacles of a kindred nature that were encountered after- ward, due, in part, to an excessive amount of silt that was being thrown into the canal by the Colorado River. There were then about 9000 peo- ple in that valley and their crops covered some 150,000 acres. They all wanted water and must have it. But even this was soon remedied, and the clouds that had hung over the years of 1905, 1906 and 1907 all van- ished. But it was the beginning of the end of the California Develop- ment Company.
SOME OF THE RESULTS
According to a report made in 1913, there were then about 250,000 re- claimed acres under cultivation in this Imperial Valley. The soil seemed well adapted to the growth of practically every crop that was grown in the United States, with very few exceptions, such as some of the decid- uous fruits, which required a period of frost and snow which are never known in this Valley. A leading crop of late has been the alfalfa plant, which can be cut from six to nine times each year with an average of one ton to each cutting. It can also be used for forage part of the year and cut later for fodder. It remains green all through the year, although in December and January the cool nights retards the growth. And yet alfalfa is still considered one of the greatest wealth producers in the Valley. As a producer of beef, pork and mutton, it is without an equal. Farmers are reaping enormous profits from their alfalfa fields. In three years a plot of ground rented for some $500 attained a value of $16,000. Good alfalfa land is now worth about $175 per acre and rents for about $15 an acre per year.
Among the newer crops, however, in this region is cotton, which is being very successfully grown, and yields a bale per acre. Already there are many cotton gins in operation, and at El Centro and Calexico there are cottonseed-oil mills, which, after extracting the oil, grind the seed into meal. The different varieties of corn do well here, and often two crops are secured in a season, except from the Indian corn. The first crop can be cut down and another crop grown without replanting. Bar- ley is also a sure crop and yields from 18 to 35 sacks per acre. Used as hay for fodder, it yields from two to four tons an acre.
Livestock of all kinds is extensively raised throughout the entire Val- ley. And it is said that here the yearlings attain the size and growth of
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HISTORY OF IMPERIAL COUNTY
the two-year-old in any other part of the stock-growing sections of the country. This is attributed to the continuous feed of green fodder and the escape of the rigors of winter. Many large cattle companies are already established here.
Another most attractive and profitable product in this Valley is the cantaloupe. A leading center of this growing industry is Brawley. Near- ly 3000 carloads of this delicious table dessert are annually shipped from this point, and the returns are from $100 to $300 per acre. This product is now being rapidly increased, a larger acreage being devoted to its culture. Oranges and lemons have not been a commercial success, but grapefruit is grown most successfully. The apricot is another very valuable fruit product here, yielding from $500 to $750 per acre in fav- orable seasons under proper culture. Large returns from the growth of asparagus are also reported. It is shipped in carload lots to New York and Chicago in February and March. One rancher cleared $10,000 from this vegetable alone in 1912, from 45 acres of land. After the shipping season closes it is canned for market. Dates are also a very profitable crop, often yielding 300 pounds per tree, worth from fifty cents to one dollar a pound. Table grapes are also doing well in the Valley, and there are several large vineyards. Muscats, Malagas, Thompson's Seed- less and a few Persian sorts are usually grown. They ripen late in June and are thus off the market when other sections begin to ship, thus se- curing the top price.
Such is merely a brief summary of a few of the products of this mar- velous Valley where the land valuations have increased from nothing in 1900 to $14,000,000 in 1912, and $20,000,000 to $40,000,000 now. Since 1912, however, the construction of the new High Line Canal east of the Alamo River has added some 125,000 acres for cultivation. This extends from the Mexican boundary to the Southern Pacific main line tracks. Much of this was part of the government grant to this company.
It is therefore apparent that the water supply in this vast area is in- exhaustible, and it is furnished to the farmers at very low cost. It fur- ther appears that the soil of this Valley is the richest and most fertile to be found in the American Union today.
In the east it is very common to denounce the prevalent practice in financial circles of "watering stocks"-watering stocks of companies, corporations and securities of every name and nature. The practice has
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HISTORY OF IMPERIAL COUNTY
resulted in loss or ruin to millions of victims all over the land. All man- ner of legal restrictions have been resorted to by legislatures to prevent such frauds. But on the whole success has been very scant and indiffer- ent at best.
But here in this great Imperial Valley of California water has really done the whole trick and proved the salvation of thousands. We call it "irrigation" here, as it might also be termed in the east. But in this Val- ley it has completely transformed a vast desert waste of only a few years ago into a glorious garden of fertility and production where thou- sands of people are now dwelling in comfort and prosperity. And the end is not yet in sight.
IMPERIAL COUNTY
This being among the latest productions of this wonderful Valley, ref- erence to it in this record has been deferred to this later chapter. It is, of course, very evident that no such civil division could have been creat- ed here until there was a place to put it, or even something to make it from. Then, too, there was no necessity for it, and the settlers were too busy with other things of more importance to their present existence, and did not feel the need of any such local government. It was even doubtful whether there were any political aspirants in the region as yet. This class of idle diplomats is rarely found among the pioneers of un- developed lands. They come in later after the way of progress has been duly blazed.
All this territory had been included in San Diego County from a much earlier period. This great desert region had always been regarded as the most worthless part of that old county. Nobody ever expected that anything good could come out of this vast salt marsh and sandy waste. But in July, 1907, a petition having been received from some of the leading residents of that Valley for a division of the old county and creation of a new county in this Valley, a resolution was finally passed by the San Diego Board of Supervisors calling for an election to pass on this question. The proposed line of division was the section line be- tween ranges eight and nine of the San Bernardino Mountains. The territory embraced in this new county approximated 4000 square miles in extent and then had a population of 20,320.
This election was accordingly held on August 6, 1907. Then, on Ang-
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ust 12, the vote having been almost unanimous for the erection of the new county, its birth was promptly, though not very loudly, announced. There is no special record of any public proclamation or celebration of the event. In fact, these settlers were not given to demonstrations of this character. Meanwhile, however, there had been an active contest for the location of the county seat, especially between the friends of Im- perial and El Centro. The result was that the latter, though much younger than Imperial, won the victory by a very small margin of votes. This led to a close contest which for a time came near being taken to the courts for decision. But better counsel prevailed in the end and a board of supervisors was duly elected for the new county. The first session of this local legislature was held in the Valley State Bank building when Mr. F. S. Webster, of the third district, was cho- sen chairman. And in this place it is significant to record that the very first measure which was adopted by these pioneer officials and settlers here assembled as local lawmakers, was an ordinance prohibiting the sale or distribution of malt or spirituous liquors anywhere in the coun- ty except under the most rigorous restrictions. The third ordinance, passed at a subsequent meeting, was a measure prohibiting gambling or betting. This will give some idea of the general character and personal motives of these early settlers from a moral standpoint at least. They were determined to begin right, and they did, for these laws were duly enforced.
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