THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



303 



IATTALIA.WASHINGTON 



On the Walla Walla. 



Columbia Canal Company Revives Old Project Attalia 

 to Be Important Rail Center Land Sales Increase 

 Company Insures Land Improvement by Settlers. 



In the early days of irrigation enterprises, numer- 

 ous projects were launched by men of limited means 

 who were far-seeing enough to discern the advantages 

 of investments of this character, and much effort was 

 expended to interest capital to assist them in carrying 

 out their plans. Many men of integrity and energy fell 

 down in their efforts in this direction, while on the other 

 hand many were successful in raising funds and brought 

 the projects to a point where capital was easily secured 

 and work of development was carried on to a point 

 where purchasers were readily satisfied of the feasibility 

 of home building thereunder. Among the many projects 

 launched was one on the Walla Walla Eiver in Wash- 

 ington, whose object it was to water a large tract of 

 land along that stream and the Columbia River, in the 

 western part of Walla Walla County. 



The Government appropriated to this company 200 

 cubic feet of water per second from the Walla Walla 



Attalia Giant Sage Brush An Indication of Good Soil. 



River, this water to be taken out at a point about ten 

 miles above where this stream empties into the Colum- 

 bia. Using as a basis the government allotment of one 

 cubic foot per second for 160 acres, this appropriation 

 would be sufficient to cover 32,000 acres of land, and 

 as it was the intention of the company to cover less 

 than one-half of that amount, an abundance of water 

 was assured to the settlers. 



During the year 1904, while looking over various 

 sections of the states of Washington and Oregon, Mr. 

 U. K. Loose, Winfield Smith of Seattle and J. D. Bas- 

 sett of Ritzville, together with other parties, found the 

 project along the Walla Walla River in a then incom- 

 plete state and the company without sufficient capital 

 to carry it through. 



Realizing that in this valley lies some of the rich- 

 est land in the state which brought under irrigation 

 would produce immense crops, this group of men pur- 

 chased the interest of the old company and formed the 

 "Columbia Canal Company" and carried on the work 

 where others had left off. 



A solid concrete dam across the Walla Walla River, 



Iiy 2 feet wide at its base and 20 feet high, with head 

 gates of steel and an intake several hundred feet long, 

 also built of concrete, were put in and the work was of 

 such a character that it is the opinion of the promoters 

 that it will last forever. The heavy floods in the spring 

 have never developed any indication of weakness in the 

 construction of this work. 



From this clam the water is carried through open 

 ditches, flumes and tunnels to the lands in the valley be- 

 low. The main ditch is 14 feet wide at the bottom, 6 

 feet deep and 32 feet wide on top, the slopes being l 1 /^ 

 to the foot, having a conveying capacity of double the 



Harvesting Alfalfa Near Attalia, Wash. Young Orchard in Distance. 



amount of water required to irrigate the amount of land 

 under the canal. 



One of the long flumes is 'built on concrete piers 

 and timbers and will stand for years. The drop at the 

 end of the flume is a siphon carrying the water under 

 the 0. R. & N. tracks and then into an open ditch on 

 the hillside. The first laterals were built in open 

 ditches and flumes, which supplied the few people in the 

 valley during the first two years after the ditch had 

 been completed, it being the intention of the company 

 to develop a few of the lands and prove what could be 

 done in the valley. 



The sales were not pushed until the season of 1908, 

 when the sales management was put in the hands of 

 R. C. Dahlhjelm, the valley at this time having proved 

 beyond a doubt what could be done with proper irriga- 

 tion and cultivation. 



A great many of the small western streams show a 



Railroad Construction Work on "North Bank" Road Near Attalia, 



Wash. 



tendency to run low for two or three weeks the latter 

 part of July and the first of August. Realizing that 

 this might happen on the Walla Walla River, the com- 

 pany in the fall of 1908 installed an immense pumping 

 plant on the Columbia River, this plant to serve as a 

 supplement and to be used only in emergency cases. 



