37 



Comjxirixon of the (iejinile claims to water, iiitlt the average dischanje of ttlreanix of fhillalin 



Basin, season 1902. 



Niimc uf stream. 



West Gallatin and tributaries 

 Cottonwood Creek (south)... 



Bear ("reek ( vest) 



\Vilst)ii Creek 



Middle Creek 



Bozt'iiian Creek . ..~ 



East Hoar or Flannery Creek 



Kockv Caiivon Creek 



BridKer Creek 



Lyman Creek 



Cottonwood Creek 



SpriiiRlnll or Ross Creek 



Reese Creek 



Dry Creek (north) 



Number. 



Average diseharge. 



118 

 11 

 10 

 4 

 29 

 29 

 14 

 23 



Miner's ins. 

 315, 456 



7,590 



6,195 



600 



11,300 



17, 570 

 4,101 



10,926 



1,.590 



2, 460 



800 



l."),010 

 1 , 600 

 2,145 



Miner's 

 56, 

 3 



tns. 



,125 

 628 

 944 

 353 



,680 



,412 

 482 



, 425 



,806 

 443 

 282 



,738 

 930 

 282 



Ou. 



ft. per sec. 

 1,403.12 



88.21 



23. 61 

 8.83 



117. 01 

 35.29 

 12. 04 



35. 62 

 95. 16 

 11.07 



7. 05 

 43. 46 



23. as 



7.05 



Oil West Bear Creek, in adtlition to the definite claim.-^, amounting 

 to over six times tlie average flow, there are five chiims which assert 

 a rig-ht to the entire stream. Mere we have a little stream whose 

 average flow is about 1,000 inches filed upon to the extent of thirteen 

 times ifs normal discharge. On Lvman Creek, the source of the city 

 water supply of Bozeman, there are six claimants, each of whom has 

 a recorded claim to the entire stream. On Bozeman, Bridger, Ross, 

 Reese, and other important creeks the condition which exists is almost 

 identical. 



In 1905 a law" was enacted providing for a further addition to the 

 water-right records of the State. A person having filed a notice as 

 required b}' law may, when his works are completed, tile for record a 

 map and statement showing the completed work, made and sworn^ to 

 by a competent engineer. This law does not do away with the ncces- 

 sit}' of a court proceeding for the defining of rights, but it provides a 

 means whereby an appropriator may make a public record of the essen- 

 tial facts as to his right — the location and capacity of his ditch, and the 

 location and area of his irrigated lands as determined b}' surveys. The 

 law is not mandatory, and will not make the record complete, but if 

 an appropriator files a claim stating what he intends to do, and after 

 completing his w^orks tiles a map and statement according to law the 

 evidence necessary for a proper defining of his right will always be 

 at hand. 



At the same time that provision was made for recording rights, it 

 was provided that in any action regarding water rights all parties claim- 

 ing rights to water from the same source might be made parties to the 

 action, and all rights be determined in the one action. 



WATER RK4HTS ON MIDDLE CREEK. 



During the summer of 186-1, John J, Chambers and Robert Gillespie 

 settled on unsurvej^ed lands near the banks of Middle Creek about 6 

 miles west of the town of Bozeman. In the fall of 1861 these settlers 



