THE POSSIBILITIES OF SALTON SEA 9 



shown in a relief map, it is in the shape of an acute triangle, with its 

 base resting upon the Colorado River, on the east side, and extending 

 northwest and up the Coachella Valley toward Mt. San Jacinto. The 

 land slopes gradually from the river northwest to the Salton Sink, 

 which at the lowest point is 280 feet below sea level. Yuma, Arizona, 

 lies at the northeast corner of this triangle, and .is 137 feet above sea 

 level, which, therefore, gives the feed canal, created for irrigating, a fall 

 of 417 feet. 



Indio, at the extreme northwest point of the triangle, is 22 feet 

 below sea level, while Volcano Lake, Mexico, is found to be very close 

 to sea level. The town of Indio is the end of a division of the Southern 

 Pacific Railroad, where the company has machine shops and main- 

 tains a large force of men. It is also a health resort, and has a fine 

 hotel and sanitarium. The other towns of this sunken area, which 

 would be submerged by such a lake, are: Salton, 265 feet below sea 

 level; Walters, 189; Thermal, 121; Imperial, 65; Alamo Bonito, 186; 

 Coachella, 65 ; Mortmier, 248 ; Volcano Spring, 265 ; Fish Spring, 230, 

 and Mecca, 18. 



The town of Imperial, located near the center of the Imperial 

 Valley irrigation colony, is fast becoming a very important little city. 

 Four years ago it was unknown. Its site was only a part of the bare 

 Colorado Desert. An examination of the soil of this vicinity, how- 

 ever, revealed the fact that the only thing necessary to make it pro- 

 ductive was water, and in consequence a company was organized to 

 install a system of irrigation. A canal was dug that intersected the 

 Colorado River near Yuma, and by the water thus supplied the region 

 was awakened into life and fertility. As a result, in the past four 

 years, the town of Imperial has come into being, and about 110,000 

 acres of the surrounding land have been converted into a prospering 

 farming community, with a total population of over 10,000 persons. 

 And the limit has by no means yet been reached, for there is much 

 more of the region in a reclaimable condition. 



Up to the time that this irrigation system placed Imperial upon 

 the map, the most important industry on the Colorado Desert was the 

 salt works at Salton. Salton Sink was a vast dry lake of solid salt, 

 and thousands upon thousands of tons of it were mined by simply 

 scraping it up into piles. This industry furnished employment to a 

 large corps of men, and the town of Salton came into being as the 

 result of its being made the headquarters of the New Liverpool Salt 

 Company. 



But Salton at present is dead. The town and the works are buried 

 in a grave of water. The person who journeys thither to-day looks 

 upon a vast lake. The homes are deserted, the salt works are aban- 

 doned, and Salton Sink, once a dry lake of pure salt, lies transformed 



