History of Colorado; Volume I, Part 54

Author: Stone, Wilbur Fiske, 1833-1920, ed
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 954

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Hay is Colorado's principal crop, both in acreage cultivated and total value.

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In 1917 about 1,420,000 acres of land were devoted to this crop. This includes 970,000 acres of what is known as tame or cultivated hay, including alfalfa, timo- thy, alsike, sweet clover and millet, and about 450,000 acres of wild hay, including salt or prairie grass, bluestem and a large variety of natural grasses. The total yield of hay in 1917 is estimated at 2,691,000 tons, being the largest in the history of the state. At current prices it is worth to growers about $42,517,800. This crop was worth more than the wheat and corn crops combined, the latter two ranking next.

The state's wheat crop in 1917 amounted to approximately 13,536,000 bushels, which is the largest ever produced, with the exception of 1915, when the pro- duction was estimated at 13,770,000 bushels. The Department of Agriculture found the average price of wheat in Colorado to the farmers to be $1.87 per bushel on November 1, 1917.

The acreage cultivated to corn in 1917 was the largest ever devoted to that crop in Colorado. The Department of Agriculture placed the area for grain other than wheat in the state last year at 532,000 acres, which yielded 10,600,000 bushels.

COUNTY AGENTS

In the spring of 1912 the board of directors of the Logan County High School conceived the idea of a teacher of agriculture in their school. After de- tails had been perfected and arrangements made, on October Ist of the same year, D. C. Bascom was made county agent under a cooperative agreement be- tween the Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture, the com- missioners of Logan County, the board of directors of the county high school and the State Agricultural College. Other counties rapidly followed the precedent established by Logan County. Saguache, Rio Grande, Conejos and Costilla in the San Luis Valley organized in December and El Paso County shortly before. In the meantime, D. W. Frear had been employed by the Bureau of Plant In- dustry and the State Agricultural College to act as "state leader," with head- quarters at the college. The Nineteenth General Assembly passed a bill granting to the commissioners of each county in the state the right to employ county agri- culturists and to levy funds for such work and, further, to make special investi- gations whenever any agricultural industry of the country was threatened by disease or insect pest. This bill was signed by the governor April 13, 1913. Pueblo County was the next to organize, then came Prowers, Mesa, Boulder, Morgan, La Plata, Montezuma, Adams, Kit Carson, Lincoln, Las Animas, Gar- field, Fremont, Douglas, Huerfano, Weld, Delta, Arapahoe, Jefferson, Montrose, Moffat, Routt, Larimer and Sedgwick.

FRUIT GROWING

The science of fruit growing in its most successful phases is nowhere better ex- emplified than in Colorado. This division of agriculture has increased amazingly since the territorial days, the greatest progress having been made during the last quarter century. William E. Pabor, in the publication "Colorado as an Agri- cultural State," 1883, stated :

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"Fruit growing is in its infancy in Colorado, but it promises to be an industry of some importance. When it is known how they can be grown there will be no trouble to raise fruits of all kinds. It is with the horticulturists of the state as it is with the child learning to walk. Steps are feeble and uncertain at first. * Ten years ago a fruit grower in Boulder County, in the month of April, looked over what was then an extensive orchard for Colorado, and saw over three hundred peach trees, besides apple, pear, plum and cherry trees, destroyed, so far as that year was concerned, by the cold, severe winds that swept down the valley as late as the 22d of the month. He saw, in addition, the canes of his raspberries, and blackberries, and the vines of his grapes killed to the ground. Surely such a sight would be enough to discourage the most ardent fruit grower. Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin seemed written of the country, so far as fruit was concerned. But this courageous man did not say so. * * * Returning to his sitting-room, Joseph Wolff, of Boulder, wrote as follows: 'Notwithstanding the disastrous results of last winter and this spring on the various kinds of trees and vines, there is no need for anyone to be discouraged. Fruit culture is a system of experimenting, and must for many years be largely in that condition, until experience shall determine what varieties to plant, the soil required, the proper tillage, the effect of irrigation, mulching, fertilizers and other equally important matters. * * * My own opinion is that Colorado will yet rival any of the Middle States in the production of fruit, and for one I propose to keep on trying until I succeed; not in getting a few bushels of little, knotty, sickly trash, but an abundance of large and luscious fruits of all the hardier varieties. * * **

"The same year, at a Farmers' club, held in Denver, one of the speakers said: 'I have twenty-five varieties of apples, ten of pears, five of cherries, and ten of plums. There were a few killed last winter, the season being the hardest on trees I have ever known in this country. But I think that apples will yet be as sure a crop with us as wheat. Cherries will do as well, provided the right variety is chosen, which should be none of the kind called sweet.'"

How well these men-Mr. Wolff and the Denver speaker-prophesied is shown by the rich and bountiful crops now raised in Colorado.

The pioneers, as a rule, thought little of the possibility of fruit raising. Other crops they considered difficult enough, but fruit was regarded with frank distrust. However, there were a few who thought differently. As early as May 2, 1860, an item appeared in a Denver newspaper, recording the fact that a small parcel of fruit trees was unloaded from the express coach and con- signed to S. Howe.

After the Civil War the tree fruits began to appear in the open markets. Prior to this time the fruits which could be called "home grown" consisted of various kinds of berries. Writers on this subject have always mentioned Jesse Frazier, a pioneer of 1859, as one of the most prosperous of the early fruit and vegetable growers. His ranch was located on the Arkansas River about eight miles below Cañon City and was the site of one of the most valuable and largest orchards in the state.

Until 1890 nearly all the fruit raised in the state was grown in that part of Colorado near the base of the eastern mountains. The western slope was yet an undeveloped field. However, about the date mentioned, the great possibilities of the western slope were recognized and the horticulturists began to turn their

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attention in that direction. The result has been, as familiarly known, the devel- opment of a fruit growing section unsurpassed in the country. Apples are the staple and principal product of this section and every year are produced in large and increasing quantities. The cultivation and marketing of these fruits is not done in an indifferent manner, but by a regularly organized and well equipped system, much of the work of disposal being in the hands of associations.

CHAPTER XXIV

DEVELOPMENT OF IRRIGATION BY JOHN E. FIELD (Civil Engineer)

FIRST IRRIGATION-FIVE PERIODS OF CANAL CONSTRUCTION-EARLIEST CANALS -- COMMUNITY EFFORT-CORPORATION EFFORT-PERIOD OF GREATEST DEVELOP- MENT-THE CAREY ACT-FAILURE OF STATE MANAGEMENT-FEDERAL EFFORT UNDER RECLAMATION ACT-RESERVOIRS-BEGINNING OF WATER RIGHT LAWS- INCORPORATION OF CAPITOL HYDRAULIC COMPANY- CITY DITCH-FIRST LEGIS- LATION-LATER IRRIGATION LAWS -- IRRIGATION KNOWN TO ANCIENT PEOPLES -- RIPARIAN RIGHTS-INTERSTATE RIGHTS-TRANSFER OF WATER.

Any adequate and comprehensive history of irrigation in Colorado would involve a work comprising many years of study and investigation, and even then could not adequately be handled except by one who had personally seen the growth of irrigation from as early as 1876, the time when the state was ad- mitted to the Union, until the present time.

FIRST IRRIGATION

It is difficult to establish the date of the first irrigation in Colorado. The dates of priority of the canals in the state in nearly all of the districts are almost coincident with the arrival of the first pioneer. We have, however, evidences of canals existing prior to that time, evidences of the existence of canals said to have been constructed by the Indian tribes occupying the southerly and south- western portion of the state, also evidence of canals constructed by the early Mexican settlers who came north from New Mexico. Zebulon Pike, in the history of his expedition, however, makes no mention of either canals or settle- ment in the San Luis Valley or along the Arkansas We may assume, there- fore, that no canals, except the prehistoric ones, were constructed in Colorado prior to 1806.

In looking over the list of priorities in various sections of the state and if we limit this history to the growth of irrigation under modern conditions, that is subsequent to the arrival of the gold seeker in Colorado in 1858, we find a number of ditches in the South Platte drainage built as early as the fall of 1859, and in the Arkansas drainage in the spring of 1859, or only one year after the first gold seekers reached those sections. In 1860 and 1861 a great many ditches were constructed, while by 1879 practically all of the available water for direct irrigation had been appropriated on both drainages.

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In the Second Biennial Report of the State Engineer of Colorado for 1883 and 1884 (page 23) is given an estimate of canal construction from 1864 to 1884 inclusive. This shows that for the five years, 1864 to 1868 inclusive, there were canals constructed of a capacity of 700 cubic feet per second each year. From 1869 to 1873 the aggregate yearly capacity of canals constructed was 1,350 cubic feet per second. From 1874 to 1878 it was 1,380 cubic feet and for the six years, 1879 to 1884, the average of canal construction aggregated 2,700 cubic feet per second per year. The canals constructed by individual effort occupied the period 1864 to 1870. Cooperative effort was dominant 1870 to 1878, while the large development from 1878 to 1884 was due principally to corporation effort.

FIVE PERIODS OF CANAL CONSTRUCTION

It is interesting to note the gradual progress of canal construction from 1858 to the present time, and the methods of development may be divided into five periods.

First, there was the individual effort, where the settler establishing his home on the bank of a stream built a small ditch to cover his meadow land and to in- crease the production of the native grasses which he found in the natural meadows along the streams. Many of these ditches were built without engin- eering advice, but the water was merely taken from the stream and the grade of the ditch was developed to conform to the topography of the land, and the water was merely turned into the canal as constructed and followed the con- struction, the builder taking this very natural method to determine the grade. It is needless to say that these grades were excessive by reason of their usually very small capacity, ignorance regarding washing and erosion of canal banks, and the usually heavy fall in the stream itself. The early canals were usually built just outside of the foothills, where on both the Arkansas and Platte drain- ages the fall is usually about twenty-five feet per mile. Contrary to general be- lief, however, engineers were employed, and we find that many of the older canals on Boulder Creek and on the Big Thompson were surveyed by Mr. Hal Sayre, at that time a mining engineer practicing in Gilpin and Clear Creek coun- ties. Mr. Sayre made his trips from the mountains to the valleys on ox teams which hauled the ore down and hauled back hay and other produce.

EARLIEST CANALS

The incentive for the construction of the canals was directly due to the large demand for hay and grain in the mines and it was natural that the hay meadows and grain fields would be developed as near the point of consumption as prac- ticable. We find on the South Platte drainage the earliest canals, according to the dates of decree were as follows:

The lower Boulder ditch, from Boulder Creek, October 1, 1859.

The McBroom ditch, near the mouth of Bear Creek, November 1, 1859.

The Hayseed ditch, from St. Vrain Creek, January 1, 1860.

The Brantner ditch from Platte River below Denver, April 1, 1860.

The Yeager ditch, from the Cache la Poudre, June 1, 1860.

The Wadsworth ditch, from Clear Creek, February 25, 1860.

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The Platte Water Company ditch, commonly called the City ditch and be- longing to the City of Denver, from the Platte River, November 28, 1860.

The Rough and Ready Mill ditch, also from the Platte River above Denver, December 31, 1860.

The Berry ditch, from the upper Platte River in South Park, June 15, 1861.

We thus see that within four years of the first arrival of Americans on the South Platte, from nearly all of the tributary streams and from the main river itself the first ditches had been taken out.

On the Arkansas River, the dates of priority are:

Flanagan ditch, from Fountain Creek, April, 1860.

Hardscrabble ditch, from Hardscrabble Creek in the vicinity of Canon City, May 1, 1860.

The Toof ditch, from Fountain Creek, February 26, 1860.

The oldest ditches were in Districts 15 and 16.

The Hicklin ditch from Greenhorn Creek, some 20 miles south of Pueblo, in the spring of 1859.

The Doyle ditch, from the Huerfano, in the spring of 1859.

It will be noted that all of these earlier ditches were taken out well up on the stream. In Division No. I that portion of the Platte River between the mouth of the Cache la Poudre near Greeley and the Town of Fort Morgan, the earliest ditch was the Oakes No. I, constructed April 26, 1866, while in Dis- trict 64, still farther down the river, the South Platte Ditch Company's ditch was not constructed until May 1, 1872, and the Keesee ditch in District 67, being on the lower Arkansas River, was not constructed until March 13, 1871.

It is fortunate that the early development began well upon the streams, for the reason that with the construction of ditches the return seepage flowing back to the stream has augmented the flow in the lower river and has developed a permanent, reliable, and almost adequate supply for the later ditches lower down on the streams. It is unfortunate, however, that the building of larger canals on the upper stream did not antedate the building of any ditches on the lower stream.

COMMUNITY EFFORT

The second period of development following individual effort was commu- nity effort, where several neighbors or a community undertook larger works covering more land and extending farther from the stream. Generally speak- ing, the first comprehensive and successful community effort was made by the Union Colony in the vicinity of Greeley.

However, this was not the first community effort, as the Denver City ditch, officially known as the Platte Water Company's ditch, was constructed by public- spirited citizens of the City of Denver. The construction of this ditch was for the purpose of supplying the citizens of Denver with water for irrigating their gardens, lawns and trees, also to develop the farming industry in the vicinity of Denver, so that the city might receive the indirect benefits therefrom. To us of this day, it seems remarkable that as early as 1860 there were men in the city far-sighted enough to anticipate the city's needs, to appreciate the neces- sity of building up a community around the City of Denver and the necessity

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of cooperation, organization and a uniting of forces for the construction of canals of such magnitude as were impossible to the individual.

Furthermore, it has generally been credited to the founders of the Greeley Colony that they were the first to appreciate the value of the higher lying lands and to realize the fact that they were the better and more productive lands. However, the City ditch, as constructed, covered the upper or prairie lands and attained a distance of from one mile (in the vicinity of Englewood) from the river to three miles from the river at its crossing at Cherry Creek. While a great deal of the land of the City ditch has since become town property, there still are, just south of the city and indeed within the city limits, considerable areas of excellent farming and gardening land.

Without doubt the leaders in the Greeley Colony had visited Denver and its vicinity and there had a demonstration that the upper lands were the better lands and that it was practical and advisable to construct canals of considerable capacity covering as much as possible the higher lying lands. It has been said that the American people are preeminently pioneers, inventors, people of indi- viduality and initiative. The same may be said of the early residents of the City of Denver, but it remained for the Greeley colonists to perfect and to bring to their highest use the available waters and the better lands. Indeed, the Greeley Colony can be said to have been the leaven in irrigation which was to leaven the whole state and which was to be the district to teach the best and highest use of this great natural resource.

CORPORATION EFFORT

The third step in progress can be designated as the corporation effort, where outside capital was brought into the state and where much larger works than theretofore attempted were undertaken.

Prominent among the corporations constructing irrigation works was The Northern Colorado Irrigation Company, commonly known as the "English Company," which constructed the Highline ditch from the Platte River, cover- ing land to the south and east of the City of Denver. Under this system there was some 40,000 acres of land. This same company constructed the Evans ditch north of Denver some 40 miles, the Loveland and Greeley Canal, from the Big Thompson River in the vicinity of Loveland, and the Larimer and Weld Canal, from the Cache la Poudre River.

A subsidiary of The Travellers Insurance Company was induced by Mr. T. C. Henry to invest large amounts of money in Colorado. It constructed two of the largest canals in the San Luis Valley-the Rio Grande Canal and the Monte Vista Canal. These canals covered 110,000 and 22,000 acres of land respec- tively, and are still in operation, and, even in the light of our present knowledge, were well constructed and well operated. The same company also built the Loutzenheiser and the Montrose canals in the vicinity of the Town of Montrose, covering 11,000 and 33,000 acres respectively.

On the Arkansas River practically all of the larger canals were constructed by corporations, notably the Bessemer, the Fort Lyon, the Bob Creek, the Otero Canal, the Amity, and others. Indeed, on the Arkansas River the con- ditions are such that little could be accomplished through individual or com-

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munity efforts and practically all of the canals were constructed by outside cap- ital, and even such as were constructed by individual or community effort were enlarged and perfected under the corporation plan.

PERIOD OF GREATEST DEVELOPMENT

This period marks the greatest development of the irrigation of the state, and while the investors were often unfortunate and while it is probable from the standpoint of the investor he was some twenty years ahead of his time, yet almost without exception these canals have been a success, have built up the community and have been of vast importance in the general development of the state, and those corporations financially able to carry the burdens until the lands were settled and developed and communities built up, have made good on their investments, and, at any rate, the state owes a debt of gratitude to the people and to the corporations which invested their money. To no individual is a greater debt owed by the state than to Mr. T. C. Henry, to whose efforts was due the larger part of the development during this period, and, while he per- sonally was unfortunate and many of his companies were unfortunate, yet the canals and reservoirs which he built stand today a monument to him and to his associates.

THE CAREY ACT

The fourth period of development, but one which is not generally recognized and which has not been of great importance was the effort at development through the so-called Carey Act. Senator Carey, of Wyoming, appreciating the difficulties encountered under corporate effort of securing early settlement and adequate returns to the investor, sought to protect him by providing that anyone filing upon Goverment land under a Carey Act system would be required to contract to purchase water from the irrigation system. One of the surprises and one of the unfortunate things in the construction of large systems was the fact that those holding lands under the canal refused to pay even a reasonable price for the water, with the result that interest, overhead charges, maintenance and operation proved too great a burden for the corporations and many of them went into the hands of a receiver and ultimately passed to the consumer with very considerable losses to the original investors.

There is in the State of Colorado, to date, but one successful Carey Act project, although there has been withdrawn under this act lands for some twenty- three projects. Several circumstances militated against the successful and more extensive operation under this act. First, was the difficulty and delay in ob- taining segregations and in complying with the Government regulations. Sec- ond, in raising adequate funds not only for construction but for that indefinite period between the construction period and the final settlement of the lands. In this period of development, also, it might well be said that the development was a number of years ahead of its time as viewed from an investor's point of view. The cost of construction was in excess of the then market value of water. The ordinary cost of construction was perhaps $30 per acre, while in many districts water could be purchased for a less amount than this in already developed com- munities.

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FAILURE OF STATE MANAGEMENT

Coincident with this period and also of little consequence was the effort of the State of Colorado to construct canals and reservoirs. During the period from 1890 to 1893 the state inv sted a considerable part of its income fund in the construction of reservoirs. Unfortunately these were poorly located as to cost, as to water supply and as to capacity. Of the canal construction State Canal No. I and State Canal No. 2 were undertaken. The use of convicts on these works was advocated and tried. Here again the location was not good, the water supply uncertain and a general scheme of development inadequate. The result of the state's efforts was that practically all the money spent was with- out result. It has been claimed that politics played a large part in this failure, and to some extent this is true, but the failure was due more particularly to inadequate knowledge of the water supply and the cost of construction.

FEDERAL EFFORT UNDER RECLAMATION ACT

The fifth period can be designated as the Federal effort to construct canals, under the Reclamation Act. The Reclamation Act was passed in 1902. Work was almost immediately begun upon the Montrose project and investigations were made on the Rio Grande project, the White River project and others. Here again we see that the cost of construction is in excess of the value of the water at the time of construction, even though no interest charges of importance are entered as a charge against the project. Sixteen years have elapsed since the law was passed and yet the amount of land actually irrigated by the United States in the State of Colorado is about sixty thousand acres or two per cent of the total irrigated. In each of these periods we see a different method of financing, we see larger and more comprehensive works, greater areas to be irrigated and more systematic effort at colonization, and while on each, with the exception of the first two, these efforts were often disastrous to the investor, yet from the stand- point of the indirect benefits each and every one has been a success. The history has not been materially different from the history of development of a new country along other lines.

The history of our railroads is one of, first, great activity in construction, one of promotion, next, one of depression and receiverships, loss of money and dis- credit, but ultimately, as the country grew, these projects have been a success and have been the means of developing the country. Similarly, in the matter of subsidies and public aid, as we look upon them now this seems to have been a species of graft, but under similar conditions and circumstances thinking people of today would offer the same inducements and the same subsidies to have the works constructed, and the people of today should have no criticism and no complaint of those who, even in the expectation and in the belief of vast profits, made possible the more rapid settlement and development of the natural resources of the west.

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History of Colorado; Volume I, Part 54

Author: Stone, Wilbur Fiske, 1833-1920, ed Publication date: 1918 Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke Number of Pages: 954

Author: Stone, Wilbur Fiske, 1833-1920, ed
Publication date: 1918
Publisher: Chicago, S. J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 954