32 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



the long and tortuous history of the affair. The 

 Bear Valley Irrigation Company, whose great divi- 

 dends dazzled the financial world, has failed as the 

 result of very bad management. The thing to be de- 

 sired now is to see the creditors paid, the water con- 

 tracts fulfilled, and the stockholders protected as far 

 as possible. If the time comes when THE AGE can 

 lend any assistance in the realization of these desir- 

 able results it will gladly do so. 



MR. ROWE AND THE BEAR RIVER SYSTEM. 



The responsible management of the great Bear River 

 canal system in Utah has recently passed into the 

 hands of Mr. William H. Rowe, of Salt Lake City. 

 This is an event of much importance to Northern Utah 

 and of interest to the irrigation world at large. The 

 Bear River works are among the most costly and sub- 

 stantial in the "West. They represent a feat of consid- 

 erable daring, both from a financial and an engineer- 

 ing standpoint. But it has been illustrated in this 

 case, as in many another, that it is one thing to con- 

 struct splendid works and another thing to develop 

 the property and turn the assets, consisting of land 

 and water, into gold. 



The selection of Mr. Rowe as president and man- 

 ager of the enterprise means that an effort is now to 

 be made in a practical way. The choice is perhaps 

 the very best that could have been made from among 

 all the captains of the irrigation industry. The con- 

 fidence of the local public and an intimate acquaint- 

 ance with the history and character of the country, 

 were in this instance just as important as eminent 

 ability in the art of irrigation and the business of pro- 

 moting colonization. Mr. Rowe knows Utah thor- 

 oughly, and, in a greater degree than any other man, 

 he possesses the confidence of both the Mormon and 

 Gentile elements in its population. He knows irriga- 

 tion as a practical thing at home, and he knows it 

 equally well as a student of literature and history. 

 For years he has been an assiduous collector of books, 

 pamphlets, and other printed matter, and he has about 

 the best irrigation library in the country. The study 

 of this literature has been his passion. It would seem 

 that he had been unconsciously fitting himself for the 

 work he has now assumed. THE AGE predicts his en- 

 tire success in the work of colonizing the lands and 

 developing, to the highest degree, the possibilities of 

 the small, diversified farm. 



Mr. Rowe has for several years been the assistant 

 superintendent of Zion's Co-operative Mercantile In- 

 stitution, which does an annual business of over 

 $4,000,000. 



The lands of the Bear River Irrigation Company 

 are among the best in the inter-mountain region, and 

 produce everything in the line of farm, garden and 

 deciduous fruit crops. They are in the neighborhood 



of Brigham City, Honeyville, Deweyville and Willard 

 City on the east, and the Malad valley on the west. 

 Brigham City alone averaged eight hundred cases of 

 fruit per day during the season of 1893. Thirty acres 

 sown to alfalfa produced eight tons to the acre the 

 second season, and the wheat record is forty-seven 

 bushels to the acre. 



With such material to work upon as this and with 

 his splendid equipment of knowledge and experience, 

 Mr. Rowe may be expected to make of this enterprise 

 one of the most striking successes in the field of irri- 

 gation. THE AGE may present fuller particulars of 

 the project at a later day. 



IN SANTA CRUZ VALLEY, ARIZONA. 



The Canoa Land and Water Company is the title of 

 a new corporation with principal office at Tucson. 

 The incoporators are C. W. Wright, J. H. Martin and 

 C. H. R. Fitzgerald, the last named gentleman repre- 

 senting an English syndicate. It is learned that the 

 new Canoa Canal has been bonded to them in the sum 

 of $100,000. The actual transfer of the property 

 hinges on the confirmation of the Canoa land grant by 

 the land court. 



STORY OF THE GRANT. 



The Canoa grant is generally conceded to be among 

 the best, as to title, of the many now pending before 

 the court. It dates away back from a Spanish king to 

 one Ortiz and from him was inherited by his son. 

 This son died recently at the good old age of about 

 one hundred and ten years. Several years ago his in- 

 terest was acquired by Messrs. Maish and Driscoll 

 who have large cattle interests in this section. The 

 grant is three miles wide by twelve miles long, located 

 along the Santa Cruz river about thirty miles south 

 of Tucson. Messrs. Maish and Driscoll originally 

 intended taking out a small ditch in order to raise 

 alfalfa, with which to fatten cattle for market, but as 

 work progressed they saw the possibilities of their 

 venture and enlarged operations, so that their main 

 canal is now 100 feet wide on top, twelve feet wide on 

 the bottom and fifteen feet deep. It is between four 

 and five miles long. Work is still being pushed and 

 will continue indefinitely. It is estimated that water 

 will be developed sufficient to irrigate 25,000 acres. 



The land is level, except for the natural fall of the 

 river, which is about seventeen feet to the mile. The 

 soil is a black loam, twelve to fifteen feet in depth, 

 underlaid by sand, gravel and boulders, through which 

 there is an immense flow of water. 



This is only one of a number of promising locations 

 along the line of the Santa Cruz river, which is mostly 

 an underground stream. The valley only needs the 

 attention of capital to develop its water supply, and 

 convert to growing grain and fruit the soil which now 

 furnishes sustenance to grass and mesquite. 



