History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. I, Part 42

Author: Lyman, William Denison, 1852-1920
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: [Chicago] S.J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 1134

USA > Washington > Benton County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. I > Part 42
USA > Washington > Kittitas County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. I > Part 42
USA > Washington > Yakima County > History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. I > Part 42

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A law of the legislature of Washington is incorporated liere, as showing beginnings of law making on irrigation.

AN ACT

REGULATING IRRIGATION AND WATER RIGHTS IN THE COUNTIES OF YAKIMA AND KITTITAS, WASHINGTON TERRITORY.

Be it enacted by the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Washington;

SEC. 1. That any person or persons, corporation or company who may have or hold a title or possessory right of title to any agricultural lands within the limits of Yakima or Kittitas counties, Washington Territory, shall be entitled to the use and enjoyment of the waters of the streams or creeks in said counties for the purposes of irrigation and making said land available for agricultural purposes.

SEC. 2. That when any person or persons, corporation or company owning or holding lands as provided in section one (1) of this act, shall have no avail- able water facilities upon the same, or when it may be necessary to raise the water of said streams or creeks, to so use the waters thereof as aforesaid, such person or persons, corporation or company shall have the right of way through and over any tract or piece of land for the purposes of conducting and convey- ing said water by means of ditches, dykes, flumes or canals for the purposes aforesaid.

SEC. 3. Any person or persons proposing to construct a ditch, dyke or flumes under the provisions of this act, shall have the right to enter upon private lands for the purpose of examining and surveying the same; and when such lands cannot be obtained by the consent of the owner or owners thereof, so much of the same as may be necessary for the construction of said ditch, dyke or flume may be appropriated by said person or persons. In case of conflict a board of award shall be formed of three of which each party shall select one, and the two so selected shall select a third. In case the owner or owners shall from any cause fail, for the period of five days, to select an appraiser, as herein- before provided, then it shall be the duty of the appraiser, selected by the person or persons proposing to construct said ditch, dyke or flume, to select a second appraiser, and the two so selected, shall select a third, and in either case the three selected shall within five days after their selection, meet and appraise the lands sought to be appropriated, after having been first duly sworn by some officer entitled to administer oaths, to make a true appraisement thereof, accord- ing to the best of their ability. If such person or persons shall tender to such owner or owners the appraised value of such land, and file with the clerk of the district court, with sureties to be approved by said clerk, a bond in double the appraised value, conditioned that if an appeal be taken, and a larger damage be allowed than the amount appraised, they will pay the judgment of the court and the costs of the appeal, they shall be entitled to proceed in the construction of the ditch, dyke or flume over the lands so appraised, notwithstanding such tender may be refused: Provided, That such tender shall always be kept good by such person or persons: And provided further, That an appeal may be taken by either party from the findings of the appraisers to the district court of the dis-

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trict within which the land so appraised shall be situated at any time within ten days after such appraisement.

SEC. 4. That in all controversies respecting the right to water under the provisions of this act, the same shall be determined by the date of appropriation as respectively made by the parties.

SEC. 5. That the waters of the streams or creeks of the country may be made available to the full extent of the capacity thereof for irrigating purposes so that the same do not materially affect or impair the rights of the prior appro- priator, but in no case shall the same be diverted or turned from the natural channel, ditches or canals of such appropriators so as to render the same unavail- able to him or them.

SEC. 6. That any person or persons, corporation or company damaging the lands or possessions of another by reason of cutting or digging ditches or canals, or erecting dykes or flumes as provided by section two (2) of this act, the party so committing such injury or damage shall be liable to the party so injured therefor.

SEC. 7. That this act shall not be so construed as to impair or in any way or manner interfere with the rights of parties to the use of the waters of such streams or creeks acquired before its passage.

SEC. 8. That this act shall not be so construed as to prevent or exclude the appropriators of the waters of said streams or creeks, for mining, manu- facturing or other beneficial purposes, and the right also to appropriate the same is hereby equally recognized and declared.

SEC. 9. That any person or persons, corporation or company who may dig and construct or who have heretofore dug and constructed ditches, dykes, flumes or canals shall be required to keep the same in good repair at such cross- ing or other places where the water from any such ditches, dykes, flumes or canals may flow over or in anywise injure any roads or highways either by bridging or otherwise.

SEC. 10. Any person or persons offending against section nine of this act, on conviction thereof, shall forfeit and pay for every such offense, a penalty of not more than one hundred dollars, to be recovered with costs of suit in civil action in the name of the Territory of Washington, before any justice of the peace having jurisdiction; one-half of the fine so collected shall be paid into the county treasury for the benefit of common schools in said counties, and the other half shall be paid to the person or persons informing the nearest justice of the peace that such offense has been committed. All such fines and costs shall be collected without stay of execution and such defendants or defendant may, by order of the court, be confined in the county jail, until such fine and costs have been paid.

SEC. 11. That all controversies respecting the right to water in the counties of Yakima and Kittitas, whether for mining or manufacturing, agricultural or other useful purposes, the rights of the parties shall be determined by the dates of appropriation respectively.

SEC. 12. That all acts and parts of acts in conflict herewith are hereby repealed.

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SEC. 13. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage and approval by the governor.

Approved February 4, 1886.

RECLAMATION ACT

One of the great dates of our national history is June 17, 1902. On that day the Reclamation Act of the Federal Government was passed. This great act was conceived by Powell and Wolcott of the Geological Survey, the details were worked out by F. H. Newell, Senator Francis G. Newlands fathered it in Congress, and President Roosevelt gave it his constant support. This was the beginning of the assumption by Federal authority of the line of enterprises which has come to be more and more recognized the land over as a proper Federal function. The date of 1902 may therefore be suitably taken as the dividing time between the private and national eras in irrigation history. It should be stated, however, that nothing more than investigation was undertaken in Yakima by the Government till 1906.

PRIVATE IRRIGATION SYSTEMS

We shall first give a view of the development of the various private enter- prises prior to that turning point. It will be noted, as our story proceeds, that several years passed before Government work was actually taken up in the Yakima Valley, but from a large general view the date of 1902 is the normal date.

There seem to be slight differences of statement as to when the first actual irrigating canals in Yakima came into existence. There is general agreement, however, that the first ditch was that of Kamiakin, "Last Hero of Yakimas," in about 1853 at his place near Tampico, on land now belonging to Wallace Wiley. But as to the first civilized irrigator there seems not perfect unanimity.

According to Leonard Thorp, whose authority is of the best, the first irri- gation was performed in 1866 by Thomas and Benton Goodwin, at a point about a mile south of the present city of Yakima. This ditch carried water from the Yakima River to a small wheat field, from which a fine crop was gathered, about forty bushels to the acre on five acres. According to the elab- orate Government history in the Reclamation office, for the use of which we are indebted to Mr. R. K. Tiffany, the first ditch was the Nelson Ditch of 1867. We derived information also from Mr. Thorp in regard to a sort of coopera- tive system, in which Captain Simmons and Messrs. Vaughn, Goodwin, Stall- cop and Maybury, were concerned.

According to the Government record the Nelson Ditch took its water supply from the left bank of the Naches River in Section 5, Township 13 North. of Range 18 East. This ditch, still in existence, was very small, carrying only seven second feet.

While these pioneer ditches were under process of formation various small individual undertakings were in progress. This was especially true along the Ahtanum. In 1872 Charles Carpenter raised the first hops at his place on the Ahtanum.

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In 1872 Charles and Joseph Schanno and Sebastian Lauber made the first attempt at a more considerable system. They constructed a canal from a point on the Ahtanum near the Carpenter place to their half section of land which became later the site of Yakima City. We derive some valuable data from Mrs. Marie Catron of Walla Walla, daughter of Charles Schanno. She recalls the fine gardens and berry patches produced on her father's place by the water of the canal. Though a small child she remembers the ridicule bestowed upon her father by people who thought his idea of irrigation absurd. Nevertheless the Schanno brothers went right on in 1874 to establish a much greater enter- prise. They laid out a ditch from a point on the Naches about eight miles dis- tant from their place. Mrs. Catron tells us that her father followed to consid- erable extent a natural hollow running through what was not far from the present railroad tracks, and thus reduced the expense of ditching to a relatively small amount. But the Schanno Canal was, after all, a large one for that early time, being eighteen feet wide and eighteen inches deep. At first the water was mainly used for raising gardens and a little wheat. Not till 1881 was the great foundation crop of Yakima, alfalfa, raised by means of the Schanno Ditch.

Some claim has been made that a canal was constructed by Judge J. W. Beck in 1872, prior to the Schanno Canal. The Beck Ditch carried water from the Yakima about half a mile above the Moxee bridge to Judge Beck's place above Yakima City. Another of the early canals was constructed by William Lince. This conveyed water from the Ahtanum to the lower slope of the hill below the subsequent Congdon Ditch.

An important ditch grew out of the Simmons-Vaughin enterprise of 1867, or as some have it, 1868. The head-gate for that canal was on the Naches about a mile above its mouth. It was at first a small affair, and yet with the progress of several years it grew into the Union Canal, well known to all resi- dents of Yakima.

LATER AND LARGER PRIVATE CANALS

A number of larger enterprises were launched during the decades of the eighties and nineties. The Naches rather than the main stream of the Yakima was the source of water supply for the earlier canals. The first important canal, following those pioneer enterprises already described, was that of the Selah Valley Ditch Company, of which B. F. Young of Tacoma became super- intendent. This canal was based upon a filing of water appropriation at a point on the Naches thirty miles above its mouth. During 1887 the canal was in process of construction from the head along the north hill sides of the Naches Valley to a point where elevations permitted its divergence to the rich lands of Selah.

For that time the Selah Valley Canal was a big affair, twelve feet wide on the bottom, twenty-four on top, and of depth to carry water three and a half feet deep.

During the period of construction of the Selah Valley Ditch, the Moxee Company was constructing a large ditch on the east side of the river. This was under the presidency and management of William Ker. G. G. Hubbard, a capi-

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talist of Washington City, was, with Mr. Ker, the chief stockholder in that enterprise. The ditch was eighteen feet wide on the bottom and carried water three feet deep.

In the latter part of the seventies and early eighties the conception of the coming destiny of the Yakima Valley as a vast irrigated country had taken possession of many minds. As we have seen, a number of small canals and some large ones had begun operation in the central valley around Yakima City. Almost contemporary with those enterprises pioneer work began in the lower Valley in the vicinity of the present Prosser and Kiona. In 1878 J. M. Baxter and Mr. Lockwood undertook canal construction on the south side of the Yakima River. Dr. Charles Cantonwine had a stock ranch nearly opposite Baxter's, and he also entered upon ditch construction on the north side of the river. A similar pioneer enterprise was initiated on the Grosscup ranch near the present flag-station of that name on the O .- W. R. R. line. That property was in possession of B. S. Grosscup, later a distinguished lawyer and judge, known throughout the state.

An ambitious enterprise in the hands of the Yakima Improvement and Irrigation Company was launched in the Kiona district. The first aim was to make a canal on the north side of the river for irrigating four thousand acres of land acquired by the company, and to furnish water to an area of forty thousand acres available to homesteaders farther down the river. The plan contemplated a canal of sufficient size to carry boats into the Yakima River, and by means of dams in the river and terminals at Kiona to receive and dis- charge freight at the North Pacific station at that place. This was a great project, but failed of full realization. It had connections, however, which have led to such developments as to make it one of the historically important projects of the valley. It was begun in 1889. The head-gates were on the north side of the Yakima River four miles above Kiona. The plans contem- plated a canal of sufficient size to carry 600 second feet of water. I. W. Dudley was one of the chief promoters of this enterprise. H. S. Huson was president of the company. Carl Ely and F. A. Dudley were the others chiefly concerned. The enterprise halted as the "hard times" came on. The area across the river from Kiona became an irrigation district, and Frank A. Dudley acquired the stock of the Y. I. and I. Company.

Meanwhile the greatest "paper" enterprise in all the lower valley had been started. This was the Ledbetter scheme. It was launched in 1890 and carried for several years, but finally went to pieces. The name, however, has been passed on to an immense unit of the Government system.

The Ledbetter aim was to irrigate the vast area between Rattlesnake Moun- tain and the Columbia River, on both sides of the Yakima, and including the Kennewick district. In 1893 the Yakima Improvement and Irrigating Company acquired the part of the Ledbetter interests in the Kennewick region and pushed construction in that direction. F. A. Dudley had conveyed his interests to J. J. Rudkin and O. A. Fechter. The first furrow on the Kennewick Ditch was turned on January 17, 1892. The head works were on the south side of Horn

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Rapids. This was the beginning of the important work which transformed the Kennewick desert into one of the most attractive spots in the valley. In 1893 the canal was completed to Kennewick, thirty-four miles from the Horn Rapids. In the next year the water reached Hover. These would have been palmy days in the history of Kennewick, had not the evil times of 1890-95 beclouded all the bright prospects.

Meanwhile there was another peculiar chapter in the complicated history of the Kennewick project. This concerned the Delhaven Irrigation District. This was composed of the residents of the region. They acquired the property of the Y. I. and I. Company and operated the canal from 1893 to 1896. The times were unpropitious and the Delhaven district failed to maintain itself. During those gloomy years most financial transactions at Kennewick were per- formed by warrants of the district. These began to depreciate and the district at last went into liquidation and its stock passed to the Northwestern Improve- ment Company, a holding company of the N. P. R. R. Company. Everything now languished for a time. Not till 1902 was there active work in the Kenne- wick district. In that year the N. P. R. R. acquired the canal interests and resumed construction.

We may say that with that event the new era began. We may, therefore, properly arrest the progress of our story at this point, and take up the pioneer stages of another part of the valley. But before leaving the early history of the lower valley we must note the fact that in 1892 canal construction was begun by Nelson Rich and Howard Amon, who later formed the Benton Land and Water Company, looking to supplying water for the Richland country. This was one of the regions especially to be covered by the Ledbetter project. Many filings on desert claims were made at that time, especially by Walla Walla people, in anticipation of canals which never came. The plans of Messrs. Rich and Amon, however, were subsequently realized by the Horn Rapids Irrigation Company. The Y. I. & I. Company completed a canal in the direction of Rich- land as far as the Grosscup ranch in 1893.

Another of the interesting and important undertakings of the lower valley was that of the Prosser Falls Irrigation Company. This provided a pumping system for about two thousand acres on the south side of the river, utilizing the twenty-foot fall at that point for power. It was found that the discharge of the river in the lowest stage in October was over 2,500 second feet. An elaborate system of turbines was installed by which water was raised for both irrigating and manufacturing purposes. Quite elaborate exercises in celebra- tion of this great event were held on April 16, 1894. Various distinguished men, Col. W. F. Prosser, the father of the town, Congressman Wesley L. Jones, D. E. Lesh, E. F. Benson, W. D. Tyler, Dr. N. F. Essig, and others partici- pated in this celebration. J. G. Van Marter was president, Fred Reed was manager, and Frank Bartlett was engineer of the company which created this power system, the basis of the growth of the fine little city, now the county seat of Benton County. Later E. F. Benson became manager and conducted the system till 1911. It was then incorporated in the Government system of the Sunnyside

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Canal. A pressure pipe ten miles long was constructed and conveyed across the river. This is now owned by the city of Prosser. The Pacific Power and Light Company acquired the pumping plant.

IRRIGATION IN THE KITTITAS

Turning back a few years in time and a number of miles up the Yakima River, we find ourselves at the initiation of irrigation in the Kittitas.

The first attempts to utilize water for irrigation in the Kittitas Valley seems to have been, as in Yakima, on a small scale for little patches of land close to the supply. A ditch was constructed by the farmers in the Manastash section in 1871. A year later a similar enterprise was put through on the Taneum Creek by an association of farmers, of which J. E. Bates was presi- dent. These pioneers must be accorded a high place in a historical record, for they played a great part in initiating the series of reclamation projects which has redeemed that splendid region from the desert. In the chapter on Kittitas County we shall refer to these canals again.

.. In 1885 what became known as the Town Canal was built by the city of Ellensburg, having a flow of 130 second feet of water and capable of reclaiming 12,000 acres of land on the north side of the Yakima River.

In 1889 the West Kittitas Canal came into existence. This provided a flow of 100 second feet and was employed for irrigating 10,000 acres on the south side of the river.

In 1903 and 1904 the important Cascade Canal came into use. This was constructed to cover 25,000 acres of land and was guaranteed a flow of 150 second feet.

Several small ditches, aggregating 7,000 acres, were constructed during the same period with those named above. It is of interest to note the elevations of the head gates of these chief canals. The Town Canal left the river at an elevation of 1,614 feet, the West Kittitas at 1,680, and the Cascade at 1,715.

A large enterprise was on the docket as early as 1892. This was formu- lated by the Kittitas Valley Irrigation Company. It contemplated taking water at an elevation of 2,175 feet and conveying it to the splendid area in the north- ern part of the valley. It would have irrigated 85,000 acres, the largest area in Kittitas County, according to the Government report, that could be reached by gravity from the Yakima River. The company went so far with their great undertaking as to clear a right-of-way twenty-five miles long with a breadth of a hundred feet. The financial crises of the years following made it impos- sible for the company to carry out its plans.

One interesting aspect of irrigation history in Yakima and especially in the Kittitas district was the sentiment of self-dependence and community spirit. The cooperative idea, as well as the self-help idea, was strong. Nevertheless some great disappointments resulted in these cooperative movements in the Kittitas. One of the most hopeful of these undertakings was inaugurated in 1902. The fact had been recognized fully by that time that the Kittitas Val- ley must be handled from the viewpoint of an arid country and that crops and methods must be adapted to that fact. In the earlier days many of the farmers

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tried to raise wheat and other crops to which they had been accustomed in the Willamette or Walla Walla or Klickitat. But the transition took place in the decade of the nineties. Wheat growing was abandoned. Only an eighth as much wheat was raised in 1901 as in 1895. Hay was beginning to be the great crop. Timothy hay from the Kittitas began to be in great demand at Seattle and other regions west. It was discovered that apples and pears and all the more temperate fruits and vegetables were peculiarly successful, where water could be supplied. A general demand for some big irrigation system arose. In 1902 there came a new popular call for steps looking to a high line canal. A mass meeting on January 9, 1902, resulted in the formation of the Inter Moun- tain Irrigation Association. Austin Mires was chosen president and Frank McCandless secretary of the association. A permanent committee was ap- pointed, whose names may well be preserved as showing the personnel of those at that time engaged in the promotion of such enterprises. That committee consisted of J. E. Frost, W. D. Bouton, J. L. Mills, J. E. Burke, W. T. Morri- son, Herman Schwingler, Jacob Bowers, Sherman Smith, S. T. Packwood and Frank McCandless. On January 18th another meeting was held at which the committee reported that it had secured a right to 50,000 inches at the junction of the Cle Elum with the Yakima, and 25,000 at Easton. At a meeting on March 4th some differences developed, some favoring a cooperative local sys- tem, while others believed the entrance of outside capital the only feasible plan. There was a general judgment that the so-called Burlingame Line surveyed in 1892 by E. C. Burlingame, now of Walla Walla, was more practicable than the proposed high line route. While the association was struggling with these problems another enterprise was inaugurated which in some degree was a rival of the association. This was the Cascade Canal Company already referred to whose canal was constructed in 1903 and 1904.

This Cascade Canal enterprise was of so much moment in the Kittitas Valley that some additional facts should be inserted at this point. It was purely a local enterprise, had an initial capital of $150,000, and was officered as follows: S. T. Packwood president, J. H. Smithson vice-president, Ralph Kauffman secretary, J. C. Hubbell treasurer, J. E. Frost manager. The intake was on the north side of the river, five miles above Thorp. Nearly six miles of fluming was required, and two tunnels, one of 800 feet and the other of 388 feet. The conception of impounding water in the lakes was inaugurated by damming Lake Kachess. Water was turned into the canal on May 13, 1904. It was expected to cover two districts, one of 13,000 and the other of 30,000 acres. The latter, however, was not carried out.

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History of the Yakima Valley, Washington; comprising Yakima, Kittitas, and Benton Counties, Vol. I, Part 42

Author: Lyman, William Denison, 1852-1920 Publication date: 1919 Publisher: [Chicago] S.J. Clarke Number of Pages: 1134

Author: Lyman, William Denison, 1852-1920
Publication date: 1919
Publisher: [Chicago] S.J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 1134