MANTI, UTAH 

 A street alter the flood of August 29, 1901 



could be done to protect the forests in 

 the mountains from fire and spoliation. 



For several years previous to their 

 coming, the little city of Manti had been 

 devastated by floods that came rolling 

 down the canyon from the mountains 

 about them. These floods swept away 

 whole farms, spread sand and silt over 

 acres of fine farming lands, and de- 

 posited in the streets great masses of 

 rocks and boulders. Families were 

 ruined, and the value of property greatly 

 depreciated. Many, believing the city 

 doomed, moved away. The citizens 

 fought these floods to the best of their 

 ability and built huge dykes above the 

 city in hopes they would turn the waters 

 and keep them in the bed of the stream. 



P>ut all their work was in vain, for 

 the dykes were swept away as are the 

 >and forts built by the children on the 

 seashore. Then they set about remedy- 

 ing the matter by looking for the cause 

 f the floods. It was not a question of 

 timber cutting, for while some timber 

 had been cut from about the heads of 

 the canyons, not enough had been taken 

 to account for the flood v 



The older settlers knew that writ 

 they first came to Manti, the hills ar 

 mountains round about were -coven 

 with a dense growth of grass, weed 

 and shrubbery. Added to this there w; 

 a deep cover of humus, composed f( 

 the most part of decayed leaves, pii 

 needles, and such matter. Into th 

 cover the snows of winter and the rail 

 of summer had soaked, to find the 

 way, slowly and without erosive actio 

 to the valleys below. 



Then came the herds of sheep ar 

 cattle, and the hills were swept bar 

 The snow and rain fell upon a sc 

 trampled by the stock until it was pack( 

 so hard that the water ran off it ; 

 troni a roof. The ground cover, whic 

 once held the waters, was gone. Ai 

 what the stock didn't do to make tli 

 destruction complete the fires did. 



Then followed the floods. 



Kvery one agreed as to the cause ; tl 

 remedy was simple. They asked tl 

 government to set aside the mountaii 

 ;ib:uit them for a national forest an 

 when that was done, to prohibit tl 

 grazing of all stock upon the Mai 

 watershed. 



