16 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



are united on the project, it is certain to win out. Car- 

 bon county has built fifteen miles of the road already 

 and its engineer is making a survey of the extension 

 now. The road will, pass through the majestic gate to 

 the mountains near Red Lodge, thence up the Rocky 

 Creek Canyon to where it heads at Mirror Lake. From 

 the summit beyond this is the greatest panoramic view 

 in America and over twenty mountain lakes are visible. 

 The route takes one past the famous Frozen Lake, the 

 Chain of Lakes, Bear Tooth Lake and Peak and the old 

 Hudson Bay fortifications. From here on there is a 

 succession of grand parks until the beautiful and im- 

 pressive canyon of the Clarks Fork is reached and the 

 Soda Butte road is tapped. On this road are the Ame- 

 thyst Mountain, the Petrified Forest, the Soda Butte 

 Springs and other freak features not on the regular line 

 of travel. The road when complete will be about fifty 

 miles long. The Red Lodge road will add about two 

 days to the itinerary of the park visitor who prefers to 

 see the sights at his leisure and in his own way. 



It is to be hoped that Montana's representatives in 

 Congress will lend the measure their united support, as 

 it is a deserving one. The Yellowstone Park is the 

 people's playground, and there can not be too many 

 wagon roads leading into it. 



page, and to which IRRIGATION AGE calls attention. 

 Owners of reservoirs should send for Mr. Butchart's 

 catalogue. 



THE NORTHWESTERN HEADGATE. 



The headgate shown in the accompanying illus- 

 tration shows the Northwestern Iron and Steel Head- 

 gate, with 24-inch opening and 18-foot frame. This 



gate is hinged so that the frame may be dropped un- 

 der water in the reservoir during winter to prevent ice 

 packing and carrying the gate away. This is only one 

 of many special headgates made by C. D. Butchart, of 

 Denver, Colo., whose advertisement appears on another 



A NEGLECTED OPPORTUNITY IN ARID RECLA- 

 MATION. 



While the Government and private capital are 

 searching out reservoir sites, another and less costly 

 means of reclamation lies unseen. This lies in the non- 

 provision of water tight conduits for the sinking rivers 

 and creeks of Idaho and other arid States. 



A sinking stream is one which cuts through the 

 soil and wastes down through the gravel. A stream 

 of this kind will lose its entire volume in flowing a- 

 few miles. A certain creek in southern Idaho, in 

 which measurements were taken, was seen to lose nearly 

 half its volume in flowing across a forty acre tract. 

 Excavation has, in many instances, shown the gravel 

 interstices unfilled save by a thin coating of dust on 

 the upper surfaces of the boulders. This will give an 

 idea of the extreme porosity underlying the beds of 

 such streams. 



Along the northern border of the Snake River 

 desert a score of such streams flow down from the 

 mountains, but soon disappear through the gravel into 

 the underlying lava beds. They do not irrigate a tithe 

 of the acreage which they would could their total vol- 

 ume be saved. As much is probably true of like streams 

 in other arid states. 



The diversion of canals from these streams, where 

 the canals do not bed too near the gravel, effects an 

 appreciable saving of water. It is, however, a matter 

 of less waste in the canals, compared to greater loss in 

 the natural channels. Moreover much is lost in the 

 natural channel before the point of diversion is reached. 

 What is needed is the diversion of the entire stream 

 above the point where the water commences to waste, 

 and its conduction through a water tight canal the full 

 length of the cultivated area. 



It would require a less outlay of capital than do 

 the great reservoirs. A certain stream in southern 

 Idaho could be carried two miles through a lumber 

 flume, costing a few thousand dollars, deliver water to 

 several diversions, and send several hundred inches to 

 the valley, where it is much needed. This, however, 

 is an exceptional instance. For canals extending sev- 

 eral miles, water tight construction would be more costly. 

 Again, in other localities a canal excavated in the nat- 

 ural earth would be sufficient. On Raft River, Idaho, 

 a diversion of one hundred and sixty inches is carried 

 through a ditch for nine miles without loss, where it 

 would entirely disappear in flowing two miles through 

 the natural channel. This is because the soil is from 

 fifteen to twenty feet deep, so that the porous gravel 

 is many feet below the ditch bed. 



Not every site that is favorable to the construction 

 of a dam, and to the retention of a large volume of 

 water is available as a reservoir. However, there are 

 few streams that would not profit by water tight canals. 

 Often such canals would profitably supplement the 

 capacity of the reservoirs for reclamation. 



It is not improbable that the government engi- 

 neers are already taking observations on the sinking riv- 

 ers and creeks with a view to saving the volume thus 

 lost to irrigation. 



