USA > California > Imperial County > The history of Imperial County, California > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48
.
30
HISTORY OF IMPERIAL COUNTY
cut the Gulf in two by building up the delta dam which separates this Gulf depression from that known as the Salton Sink.
The conclusions arrived at therefore by these government geologists are that this Colorado desert was not a desert at all at first, and only became so when the floor of the basin settled probably 1000 feet, be- came inundated by the gulf, received the salt-laden waters of the Colo- rado and Gila rivers, with their numerous tributaries, thus forming a delta and lake was into which the water poured for centuries until the surface of the lake was about forty feet above the sea and extended over an area of more than 2100 square miles, and finally receded grad- ually year after year, shrinking away entirely, leaving a great solid bed of soil, rich alluvium and detritus from 250 to 1000 feet deep.
GOVERNMENT ANTAGONISTIC
It is strange to record here that apparently from the very inception of this great reclamation enterprise the attitude of the national govern- ment seemed antagonistic. At times the work was much retarded from this cause, the operators becoming discouraged, and in some cases fell into discredit in the community. This opposition came, not only from the reclamation service department, but also from other branches of the government from which every assistance had been expected. This was mainly attributed to the dilatory tactics of the officials in sending inexperienced men to undertake work of such large importance. For instance, the soil survey made by the Agricultural Department in 1901 and 1902 resulted in such an unfavorable report that for a time opera- tions were entirely stopped, and the faith in the enterprise became much impaired. The substance of this report was that the alkalies would rise to the surface and destroy all plant life. But the wisdom of that cruel prediction has been amply refuted from that time to this by the marvelous crops produced in the very parts of the Valley where the trouble was expected. And yet at the time the blow was a sad one for the projectors. There was also trouble from the Government Land De- partment. And this made it necessary that a resurvey of the lands in the Valley should be made. This was authorized by Congress in 1902, and it took seven years to complete it. But even this snarl of red tape was finally untangled.
31
HISTORY OF IMPERIAL COUNTY
But meanwhile the projectors were confronted with an empty treas- ury once more. Then resource was had to the Southern Pacific Railway Company, which was of course deeply interested in the development of the Valley. At the instigation of Mr. E. H. Harriman, after careful investigation, a loan of $200,000 was secured on certain conditions. But then came a break in the Colorado River in June, 1905, which had been preceded by some water-sewage the past two years, due to some defects in the construction system. But again all these troubles, and many others which followed from periodical floods unprecedented, were successfully met and surmounted, as all others had been.
On the far eastern side of Imperial County are 17,000 acres of the finest land in the world which are now watered by the diversion of the Colorado River under the Laguna Dam system. This great dam is nearly a mile long by 240 feet wide, and it raises the water in the river about ten feet. It stands as a monument to the engineering skill of the government. It will eventually reclaim about 130,000 acres of land. And to this will be added some 100,000 acres from the Imperial Mesa land.
This new county, therefore, seems like an empire in itself, being 84 miles long from east to west and 54 miles from north to south, covering about 2,600,000 acres. About one-sixth of this, now known as Imperial Valley, lies in the middle of the county, extending toward the Mexican line toward the north some 40 miles. The Salton Sea is in the western part of the county, the probable remains of the California Gulf.
THE WOMEN
And this leads to some special mention of the women in this Valley. Too much honor cannot be awarded them for their most effective services here. A volume might well be devoted to these women for their share in the work of development in this new country. They endured many of the hardships described in this work of achievement and strug- gle. They followed their husbands and sweethearts into this barren country even before the success of the reclamation operations was assured. They lent not only encouragement but actual and most effective assistance to the men from the very first. And it has been well said that but for these devoted women the reclamation of this Colorado Desert might have been possible, but it would not have been a fact.
32
HISTORY OF IMPERIAL COUNTY
Among these early pioneers was Mrs. Le Roy Holt. Mr. Holt, who later became president of several banks in the Valley, came to Imperial early in 1901. In June of that year Mrs. Holt followed her husband. She arrived at Flowing Wells Station on the Southern Pacific, expecting to settle in the Valley. Being the only woman in the stage-coach, she was accorded a seat beside the driver, some ten feet in the air. Reaching the Salton Sea, they found barrels of water left by the freighters, there being not a drop on the entire road between the station and Imperial. A lone mesquite tree, called the "15-mile tree," was there used as a mail-peg upon which to hang the mail sack for the Bothwell Camp on the east side. And yet there is no record showing that this mail was ever robbed. It was an all-day trip, the horses were well-nigh exhausted, and the destination was not reached until five o'clock. The only men in sight on their arrival were Mr. Holt and Mr. Reid, the editor of the Imperial Press, which was the first newspaper issued in the Valley. Of course the newspaper man is always among the pioneers in every bold undertaking or project of this nature. He never gets left. And this was the inspiration which animated his local paper. Water was king and here was its kingdom. Three months later Mrs. Holt paid her second visit to Imperial. This time she came to stay and has been there ever since. The only hotel was of canvas, and there was a little church, a printing-office building, one store-room, and a little 10x12 office for the Imperial Land Company. A Chinaman at the hotel was the manager, and there was no landlord. The only other woman in sight had just arrived by the stage. She took up some land and moved out at once. Thus the only women in Imperial and for miles around were the wife of the editor, Mrs. Frost and Mrs. Holt. There was then no wire com- munication with the outside world, and the mail was often many hours behind time. The people occasionally became hungry and found diffi- culty in keeping warm, as the stovepipe would blow away, when a neighbor would give chase on the Holt pony, fearing it might land in the canal and be lost forever. Mrs. Holt recalls one Sunday when they got no meal at all all day, the dust being so thick they could not eat in the tent-house. The children were kept in bed in case the tent was blown over.
On being asked why they stayed in a place like that she answered with much enthusiasm, "Because we loved the days that were not windy
33
HISTORY OF IMPERIAL COUNTY
and dusty, and we loved also the bigness of our surroundings. We never felt lonely nor homesick here; even the stars seemed nearer to us."
The Rev. John C. Hay was the pastor of the little Imperial church, which had only six persons in its congregation at this first service and three scholars in the Sunday school. In the evening the hotel Chinaman took part and sang "Onwald, Chlistian Sojers" with great effect. Ruth Reid, the editor's baby, was the first child born there, and Jesse and Tom Holt were the first children who lived in Imperial. Many other eloquent hardships endured by this noble pioneer woman might be cited if space permitted.
Editor Reid, who guided the destinies of the Press from May until October, 1901, gave a graphic picture of the Imperial city in the pre- ceding March before the little printing shop was built, during the prog- ress of which the paper was being put in type and made ready for the press. A roster of the place at that time showed a population of one dozen.
In those days the people depended entirely upon the "freighter," with his long string of mules, for everything which had to be brought in from the outside. And this freighter was a picturesque character, afford- ing much amusement to the residents. But of course the method of transportation was excessively slow, costly and unsatisfactory. And yet the people were glad to get even this service. They were not then in any position to contrast it with better things. And the fact is, after all, that we enjoy almost everything in this world by contrast.
The irrigation water only began to enter the Valley in the summer of 1901, and then by a very small stream. And yet the editor of the Press, which had just begun its career, became so enthusiastic over the event that he used all the big type in stock, and then concluded with this paragraph : "Imagine how pleasant to the eye the green fields, sur- rounded by a barren waste, will be to the eye." But everybody was ready to overlook his faulty construction in view of his unbounded enthusi- asm. Several crops of sorghum, maze, wheat and barley were raised that very summer, however, in the region of Cameron and Blue Lake. Experiments were also made with cantaloupes and Egyptian cotton, with such surprising results that the government began to doubt the reports of their own officials. It was apparent that the only requisite was water.
34
HISTORY OF IMPERIAL COUNTY
The Imperial Postoffice was opened in May, and the first public school, under Prof. Carr, from Nevada City, was started. The next day after this school opened there were fifty pupils enrolled. Some of these walked five miles every day to reach it.
The following spring the Southern California Editorial Association took a trip through this district under the auspices of the Imperial Land Company. This gave a new impetus to the whole section which never died out. Landholders were then assured that the irrigation system under construction would be completed early in 1902. Thus extensive preparations of the soil were made for tillage.
But now came the adverse report from the government soil expert, which, though technical and almost unintelligible to the average reader, claimed in effect that because of the large percentage of alkali much of the land would prove worthless for most crops, except on some of the bottom lands below Yuma, where the conditions were different.
This, as before remarked in an earlier chapter, was a great setback for the region. Even some of the newspapers made "stories" about the hopeless doom of the much-lauded irrigation project in the Valley. But a few of the more intelligent and conservative editors took a more thoughtful view. One of these called the report an "alka-lie" document. One sententious farmer, when asked about the "white spots" upon his productive acres, said: "Yes, it looks like alkali and tastes like alkali, in fact it is alkali. But on land that has raised a large family, lifted a big mortgage and paid the taxes, it is only frosting on the cake of plenty." He denounced the alkali expert, and said he would be in better employ prying pumpkins off these "alkali" plots.
Thus the faith of these settlers never flagged; they kept on planting and raising marvelous crops from their irrigated acres where they had them. Commercial prosperity had come to stay, only awaiting more water. And it was this personal confidence in ultimate success that animated every landholder in the Valley, and this enthusiasm spilled over to the surrounding country. The construction of additional canals went bravely on, and the people began to pour into the Valley as never before. It was, therefore, apparent that in the summer of 1902 this Imperial Valley was no longer a desert. Water was in the ditches, seeds were in the ground, and the entire region was dotted over with homes of industrious and happy people. The old desert was now crossed by an
VOTING PLACE ON THE DESERT Holding a meeting on Water Company No. 8 in the early days
35
1714334
HISTORY OF IMPERIAL COUNTY
important railway line which skirted the Valley on the northeast with its rails.
But up to this time little was really known as to the great fertility of this unfailing land-enriching silt. The Orange Judd Farmer, however, predicted even then that this land in ten years would sell for $600 an acre. The Valley being strictly agricultural territory, in addition to favorable climatic conditions, must have the other requisites of soil fertility and irrigation. The government "soil report" gave five kinds of soil-dune-sand, sand, sandy-loam and clay. This sand, they said, had blown into the desert from the old beaches on the west and northwest, and was caught upon obstructions of various kinds, and held there, gradually accumulating into sand drifts, dunes and hummocks, and this, mixed with the former soil, made a good arable combination. The sandy loam was formed by the coarser sediment of the Colorado River deposits. Underlying this sediment is a clay strata or subsoil which carries considerable organic matter with an abundance of nitrogen and potash. This clay subsoil is found all through the Valley. And this, too, is a product of the Colorado River deposits, though of a finer grade, being heavy, sticky and plastic like that of the Mississippi River delta. As a matter of fact less than one per cent of all the land in this basin has really proven worthless for high cultivation. On the contrary, its fertility exceeds what the most sanguine had hoped for, and it continues to improve in productive capacity year after year, bringing crops of great luxuriance. There is excellent drainage because of the uniform slope of the land. The fountain heads of the Colorado being in the Rocky Mountains, causes a stronger flow in summer from the melting snow, and the Gila and Salt rivers are at flood during January and February, when the Colorado is low.
The next important factor in the productive value of this or any other land is a good market. This has been found mainly at Los Angeles, 200 miles away, with its population of 600,000. Here for the past fifteen years the demand has exceeded the supply. In addition to this the com- pletion of the Panama Canal opens up another branch of the market. In the transportation of these Valley products the important railway line, with its vast capital and large facilities, having every interest in the rapid development of the region, is of course an all-important factor in itself. The cost of living, which for the first few years was large, has
36
HISTORY OF IMPERIAL COUNTY
now been greatly lessened, the heavy freight rates having been offset by the cheap dairy products, eggs, poultry, and increased vegetable supplies.
The completion of the Southern Pacific branch from Imperial to Calexico in 1904 proved of great advantage. During part of this time, however, progress continued to be impeded by an insufficient supply of water, although as an association of settlers the supply was freely given, except the annual assessment on water-stock. But of course this did not help out the inadequate supply furnished, which seems to have been due, as usual, to the lack of money on the part of the irrigating con- tractors to cure certain defects in construction of the Hanlon head- gate, but primarily perhaps to the adverse report of the government department of agriculture as to the quality of the soil. The reclamation service of the government had also raised the question whether there was any right to use this Colorado water. All these things had an ad- verse influence upon capitalists at the time, who again began to lose confidence in the project. But large destinies that are decreed for suc- cess are rarely turned aside by small obstacles.
New discoveries were made at the Chaffey gate, and some other im- provements effected which remedied the trouble for a time. An opening was finally made in the mud-banks of the river four miles below the Hanlon gate into Mexican territory, and this connected the river directly with the Alamo tunnel. This was done in October, 1904, and the clouds of trouble which had threatened so long dispersed at once. This Colorado River flowed along the rim of the Valley, and from 25 to 200 feet above it. And when the irrigation cut was made it was through 1600 feet of mud-flats such as the river had been forming for centuries. Thus to carry this depression below sea level was in defiance of natural conditions, and there was some question whether the stream would take kindly to the change, or perhaps make a new channel for itself.
The opposition to the diversion of this river water for irrigation pur- poses was bitterly fought by Mr. A. H. Heber through influential friends in Congress at that time. He sought to convince that body of legislators that the Colorado was more useful for irrigation than for navigation purposes. But Congress would not agree to that proposition then. Then he went promptly to President Diaz of Mexico and entered
37
HISTORY OF IMPERIAL COUNTY
into a contract with him in June, 1904, for the development of an irri- gation project on the basis of the use of one-half of the water of the canal, if so much was needed, being used on Mexican soil. Engineer Rockwood was placed in charge of this new project. But in February, 1905, before this could be completed, the Colorado got on the rampage with successive floods, the mud-dam at intake No. 3 was swept away, and the dike was carried in the channel down into the Valley. Then various devices were planned and resorted to, but the old stream refused to be conciliated during that whole summer, and there were no avail- able funds in the treasury of the development company. Meanwhile the great river, roaring with wrath, cut deeper and deeper into the soft mud-wall between it and the men who were making frantic efforts to curb it. Piles were sucked out, the island became flooded, and the water lapped the base of the government levees on the Arizona banks while the engineers looked calmly on. Finally, on August 9 of that year, the stream turned its bed and began pouring into the Valley toward the old lake, from which it had been shut off for ages.
About this time, however, the Southern Pacific Company secured control of the California Development Company, and took charge, placing the matter under the direction of Engineer Rockwood, who then introduced his gate plan, which, however, was subsequently greatly changed. But then another great flood in this erratic and defiant river came down in November of that year. And now the settlers began to despair of the human agencies employed to control these vast forces of Nature, as well they might. Rockwood's gate-plan was again resorted to and finally completed in April, 1906, at a cost of $130,000. The mad river had risen from 6000 to 102,000 second feet in three days, and the impotency of man was again apparent. But something had to be done.
Then the big railway corporation got busy and ordered this break closed at once at whatever cost. Various gates were built and performed wonders. It is, however, manifestly impossible to follow in detail all these successive floods and the methods used to control them from this time forward. But, strange to say, in spite of all these troubles there was still much industrial prosperity in this Valley. And yet there was much misgiving and some, becoming desperate, sold out and moved away. But a large majority of these indomitable settlers stuck to the enterprise through everything, feeling sure that the great river would
38
HISTORY OF IMPERIAL COUNTY
be fully controlled ultimately. Meanwhile, however, exaggerated and absurd reports were being published in outside papers and magazines. Even the Los Angeles Examiner contained a report that an under- ground fissure had opened, allowing the waters of the ocean to pour in by a subterranean passage into the Salton Sea, and that the Valley might be engulfed. But these met strong refutation very soon, and the various Valley industries went steadily on as usual, with many new homes building.
The Southern Pacific was now in control and the slogan was, "Stop that water." And it was stopped.
Just previous to this the great San Francisco earthquake and fire had occurred. President E. H. Harriman, of the railway corporation, had authorized a large appropriation for the entire work of closing this break, although he had just arrived by special train while the ruins of San Francisco were still smoking. He placed Mr. H. T. Cory in charge of the work, and he proved the right man in the place at that time. Without following in detail all the methods used, it is sufficient to say that on November 4 all the waters of the yellow dragon were again confined to their old-time channel on their way to the Gulf of California, and the work had taken only one day over three weeks.
ANOTHER FLOOD
But now, in spite of the hurry to complete the dam across the break, another distressing flood broke on December 7, and in 36 hours the entire river was again pouring into the Salton Sea. Two weeks later, at the request of President Roosevelt, Mr. Harriman gave orders to again make the closure, and this was completed in February, 1907. Now once more the old river went peacefully on its way to the ocean.
Meanwhile the career of the California Development Company had failed to keep its promises in extending the water-system territory, not supplying the people's needs, and had been extravagant in its use of money. Its patrons had become dissatisfied, and there was some merit in their complaints. This finally culminated in an appeal to the govern- ment reclamation service to buy out the company. A proposition was made to organize a "water users' association," with a fund of $12,000,- 000, agreeing with the government to purchase the property of the development company, place the whole matter under the management
39
HISTORY OF IMPERIAL COUNTY
of the reclamation service, and then carry on the business of serving water in this Valley. But the plan did not work smoothly at the outset, owing to difference in opinion as to valuation. But President Heber finally offered to sell out for $3,000,000, and this offer was promptly accepted by the settlers, and congress was wired to that effect. But that body turned down the plan. Then there was more worry all through the Valley, and the development company became an object of distrust from that time forward. In the meantime Mr. Heber died at Goldfield, Nevada. But soon after this a deal was made with the railway company to close the river break for $200,000, which was given as a loan, the company being assigned a majority of the stock of the development company as security.
Up to this time the men who had really done things, and made the reclamation of this desert possible, like Engineer Rockwood, who had sacrificed himself and his professional success; Mr. Chaffey, one of California's great builders; Dr. Heffernan, who lost his fortune, and President Heber, who had devoted all his heroic energies to the cause, struggling through one financial crisis after another, had merged all their interests in this great railway company.
Finally in the spring of 1910 Judge Lovett, the new president of the Pacific Board of Directors, decided that the California Development Company must be disposed of at once, so far as the railway corporation was concerned. This meant, of course, that it should be sold at auction to the highest bidder. Up to 1903 these promoters had very little to do with the national government in a direct way, except filing on public land. As a matter of fact, incredible as it may seem, very little was officially known in Washington concerning this glorious enterprise. Government engineers who had visited the Valley reported that the irrigation proposed would cost $10,000,000. Thus no further action was taken at the time. But in 1903 there seemed to be new interest shown in the reclamation of public lands in the West. This resulted from the work of Theodore Roosevelt, Senator Newlands, of Nevada, and Con- gressman Mendell, of Wyoming. But, as before stated, as a result of the opposing influence of the reclamation service the plan was de- feated. Various reasons for this antagonistic attitude were imputed. En- gineer Rockwood advanced the theory that no canal from the Colorado River could be a permanent success unless a diversion dam were con-
40
HISTORY OF IMPERIAL COUNTY
structed across the river which would raise the water in order that the water might wash out the silt from the canal. This he thought was the contention of the government engineers at the time. But back of all this there seemed to be a hostile feeling among the officials of the Reclama- tion Service. Many attacks had been made upon the integrity of the promoters of the development company. It had been predicted that within twenty years dire calamity would befall these settlers in the Valley and that they would be drowned out, their homes and fields forming the bottom of a vast inland sea. Another consulting engineer in the service wrote in a similar vein, warning the people of the ruin impending. In this way the reclamation service showed their animosity toward this project. It was even hinted that the whole survey of 1854 had really been made in a back room of a Yuma saloon. But the dis- covery of some old sticks of that survey would seem to refute this implication. Be that as it may, however, congress authorized a resurvey of the district in 1902, but this was not completed until six years later, for reasons unknown. Then there were still further complications and delay in getting the matter through the general land office, as well as many technical irregularities. And yet it is believed that while in other parts of the West much government land has been stolen, it is thought that none of this land in the Imperial Valley was dishonestly acquired by those now engaged in the attempt to reclaim it from the desert. Dishonesty rarely thrives in a desert waste. But as this began to grow into a fertile garden men of more technical nature than ethical sensi- bilities saw rich prizes here. Through some blunders of the land office officials they found many ranches where technical errors had been made. Thus they began many contests to titles held by rightful owners. But few of these were finally sustained, though in some cases they were boldly operated by professional contestors, acting for an organization. But the courts have decided that an innocent purchaser must be pro- tected. Concerning the relations between the United States government and the Imperial Valley, the main point pertains to the full control of this headstrong Colorado. President Roosevelt, in a special message to Congress, January, 1907, said that absolute and permanent relief should be afforded these land owners in this Valley in such a way as to prevent all further trouble from this river. He said that much of this land would be worth from $500 to $1500 per acre, with a total reaching
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.