274 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



GARDEN CITY KANSAS a 



VICINITY 



In the old reports and executive documents of the 

 government, to be found in the library of the United 

 States Senate, I came across the following passage : 



"Nothing can exceed the dull monotony of a jour- 

 ney along the Arkansas. Neither in the character of the 

 country nor in any department of science do we find a 

 varniety in a day's march of twenty miles. The river 

 bed is very uneven, the whole of which is a shifting 

 sand." 



On a preceding page of the musty tome I find this : 



"The river is unusually high, being from 150 to 

 200 yards wide; and the Indians in crossing it, are 

 usually seen swimming; while two years ago, at this 

 season, I am told by officers of the army and others 

 who were then here, that it was necessary to dig in the 

 bed of the river for water to drink. The sinking of the 

 stream during low stages of water is not peculiar to 

 the Arkansas, as is well known, and it is believed that 

 water can always be found in abundance by digging in 

 the bed of this stream." 



The above passages are taken from the report made 

 by Lieutenant Beckwith, U. S. A., to the Secretary of 

 War who happened to be Jefferson Davis as a result 

 of the expedition undertaken by Captain Gunnison, 

 who was killed by the Indians, and extending "from 

 Pawnee Fork to the crossing of the Arkansas river at the 

 mouth of the Apishpa, July 14 to August 2, 1853." 

 The expedition was one of a series called "Explorations 

 and Surveys to A&certain the Most Practicable and 

 Economical Route for a Railroad from the Mississippi 

 River to the Pacific Ocean," in the years 1853-4, under 

 authority of acts of Congress of March 3, 1853, May 31, 

 1854, and August 5, 1854. 



These explorations and surveys are grouped to- 

 gether in another old publication of the government 

 called "Geographical Surveys West of the One Hun- 

 dredth Meridian." The one hundredth meridian of 

 longitude ran through Dodge City, Kansas. It was the 

 "deadline" of civilization so far as Kansas, and for 

 that matter the Middle West, was concerned, for many 

 years. The fact that the said meridian ran through 

 Dodge City the "end of the line"; the "end of the 

 trail"; the "bad" town; the town with its notorious 

 "Boot Hill," on which the temnle of justice of the 

 county of Ford now stands ; the border of civilization ; 

 the terminus for some time of the Atchison, Topeka & 

 Santa Fe Railroad may or may not be significant in 

 referring to the meridian as the "deadline" of civiliza- 

 tion. But there is where the deadline was, and where it 

 remained for many years. The Great American Desert 

 in the old geographies included all of Kansas; but 

 more recently it included only such portion of the state 

 as was west of the one hundredth meridian of longitude. 



"Nothing- can excell th dull monotony of a day's 

 journey along the Arkansas," says Lieutenant Beckwith 

 in his report. Fifty-five years have passed since he 

 journeved up the Arkansas from "Pawnee Fork," or 

 about Lamed, westward through Kansas and into Colo- 

 rado. He would not find all monotonv if he were to re- 



new his journey today; and the monotony that he would 

 find would be that of the Valley of Contentment. 



''It is believed that water can be found in abun- 

 dance by digging in the bed of this stream," said 

 Lieutenant Beckwith in 1853. 



Something more than a half century after the 

 lieutenant made his exploration through the upper val- 

 ley of the Arkansas in Kansas, someone did "dig in the 

 bed of this stream/' and it was the government of the 

 United States. It dug 23 wells, in all, and at various 

 depths came upon water in abundance, which, today, i& 

 run into cement canals and sluiceways, being electrically 

 pumped therein, and feed ten thousand thirsty acres of 

 fertile Kansas land. 



This digging in the stream ; this series of canals 

 and sluiceways constructed of modern cement; this 

 system of electrical pumps, driven by one great central 

 motive plant consisting of a pair of giant Corliss en- 

 gines, comprise the Garden City reclamation project 

 of the United States, soon to pass into the hands of the 

 Finney County Water Users Association, by it to be 

 administered under the watchful eye of the federal 

 government. This is what has resulted from "digging 

 in the bed of this stream," as Lieutenant Beckwith put 

 it in his report fifty-five years ago. 



But others than the general government have dug 

 in the stream and found the generous waters of the 

 subterranean recesses. Private enterprise has not ac- 

 complished so much in one undertaking as the govern- 

 ment, nor has the finished product of the digging been 

 so excellent, but practical results have been manifested 

 to the end that many thousands of acres are now watered 

 in abundance and alfalfa, sugar beets and garden truck 

 spring from the soil and fill the space that was so 

 "monotonous" to the exploring lieutenant back in 

 1853. 



After painting a very harsh but what was, at the 

 time, a very accurate picture of western Kansas and the 

 upper Arkansas valley in a government report in 1895, 

 F. H. Newell, then with little thought ever of being 

 at the head of the great Reclamation Service of the 

 government, that was to help in the regeneration of 

 western Kansas, refers to the irrigation accomplished in 

 the west end and particularly at and around Garden 

 City, has something to say of canals. 



Garden City blazed the way it always has in re- 

 spect of irrigation, as it has in forestry and good roads 

 and other typical reforms that are making a better 

 country out of the upper valley. It established five 

 canals radiating in different directions from the town 

 and all doing service for years. 



So Dr. Newell takes up this subject, and his discus- 

 sion of it takes on a rather gloomy aspect, in keeping 

 with what has been quoted from him above. He says: 



"It was early recognized that the permanent occu- 

 pation and development of much of this country rested 

 upon the possibilities of obtaining water. Along the 

 Arkansas valley a number of canals were constructed, 

 those in the vicinity of Garden City being among the 

 earliest on this stream, having priorities, it is claimed, 

 even over many of the older ditches in Colorado. At 

 the time these canals were built the Arkansas was sup- 

 posed to be a perennial stream, and little, if any, doubt 

 was entertained as to the ability to obtain water at all 

 times and seasons. 



(Continued in June number.) 



