52 



THE IRBIGATION AGE. 



and structures are found in many places, but little is 

 known. The wind-swept drift of centuries has choked 

 these channels and their dwellings are crumbling into dust 

 with the weight of ages. The modern ditch-making ma- 

 chinery in laying out new systems uncovered many of 

 these old ditches, some of which were cut from the solid 

 rock long before the age of metals. 



"The drive from the town of Mesa, a fertile oasis in 

 the semi-tropical desert, to Roosevelt is one not to be 

 forgotten. From a region of almost tropical luxuriance 

 you have merely to cross a canal to enter upon a wide 

 expanse of desolation wherein the giant cactus is a promi- 

 nent feature of the landscape. For twenty miles the Gov- 

 ernment road stretches out across this desert plain to 

 the foot of the Superstition mountains, a most peculiar 

 and freaky formation, regarded with superstitious awe by 

 the Maricopa Indians. Entering the mountain area the 

 road winds by easy grades up the range, affording views 

 of wonderful beauty painted in marvelous colors. 



"Transcontinental travelers cannot afford to miss this 

 trip, for the Roosevelt road is now regarded as one of 

 the most striking scenic journeys in this country. The 

 night in Fish Creek canyon, where a hospitable host and 

 hostess make the traveler welcome, is a delightful mem- 

 ory. The road has afforded opportunity to inspect a pro- 

 found canyon which heretofore was not accessible. It is 

 a miniature Grand Canyon of the Colorado. 



"The climb along the dizzy ridges until the Govern- 

 ment camp above Roosevelt is reached would be little less 

 than terrifying but for the broad and comfortable road- 

 way which Uncle Sam has carved from the solid rock. 

 The view from the mountains above the dam site is won- 

 derfully inspiring. Below you the river, like a silver 

 thread, rushes through a dark and narrow canyon. To 

 the east lies a broad flat across which Tonto creek and 

 Salt river have cut their channels. On the other side of 

 the canyon the contractors' camp covers a broad area. 

 Looking far below in the canyon through a confusion of 

 cables and wires, an army of men are at work thirty feet 

 below the river bed laying great rocks two and three 

 tons in weight in layers of cement upon the bedrock of 

 the stream. These men look but little larger than toys, 

 but the fruit of their toil is visible in the beautiful curve 

 of stone now rising slowly but surely from the bottom of 

 the river. 



"On the hill to the right the Government cement 

 mill gives noisy evidence that Uncle Sam as a manufac- 

 turer is undismayed at the prophecy of experts who knew 

 he couldn't make good cement. Night and day his plant 

 goes, on grinding out the best cement ever made, and the 

 skips are carrying it out on cables and dropping it down 

 to the works in the canyon. If your nerves are steady and 

 your legs are strong, you must not fail to go down the 

 ladder to the powerhouse which the engineers have cut 

 out of the solid walls of the canyon. Its walls, roof and 

 floor are solid rock. The power canal, seventeen miles 

 long, carries the water to the top of the hill and then 

 through a tunnel drops it sheer 220 feet upon the great 

 turbines. Here electricity is generated for all purposes. 

 It furnishes the contractor his power, it runs the rock 

 crusher and the pumps, it lights the camps, the city of 

 Roosevelt, and illuminates the canyon throughout the 

 night. It is a most inspiring scene to stand on the top 

 of the cliff at night and through the myriads of electric 

 globes watch the toilers far below you laying the huge 

 blocks of sandstone. 



"The world's greatest dam is building, a ponderous 

 structure 294 feet high and 800 feet long on top. Every 

 rock in it is inspected, and every rock is also washed thor- 

 oughly before being put in place. Watchful inspectors 

 hover about the work, noting every movement. The 

 Roosevelt dam is going to check a mad and turbulent 

 river. It is going to make the largest artificial lake in 

 the world. It is also being built to endure forever, for 

 not stronger arc the everlasting hills than will be this 

 massive masonry monolith. Down in the Salt River val- 

 ley the city of Phoenix is taking on metropolitan airs. 

 Its citizens are fully realizing that Uncle Sam's great 

 work is going to make a metropolis there, a modern city 

 surrounded by the richest and most prosperous agricul- 

 tural community in the world." 



RECLAMATION SERVICE NOTES. 



A contract has been executed with the Pacific Portland 

 Cement Company, Consolidated, of San Francisco, Cal., for 

 furnishing 27,000 barrels, more or less, of Portland cement 

 for the Sunnyside and Tieton irrigation projects, Wash- 

 ington. The cement is to be furnished at $2 per barrel, 

 f. o. b. cars at the company's mills, Tolenas, Cal. 



Proposals are asked for the construction of structures on 

 the main canal and laterals from the headworks to the 

 town of Newlon, Lower Yellowstone irrigation project, North 

 Dakota and Montana. The work involves approximately 

 10,000 cubic yards of excavation, 1,400 cubic yards of con- 

 crete, 2,200 cubic yards of rip rap, 90,000 pounds of square 

 steel bars, and 300,000 feet board measure of lumber. The 

 bids will be opened at Glendive, Mont., December 15th. 



The Secretary of the Interior has granted an extension 

 of time for 45 days from October 15th, to Orman & Crook 

 for the completion of the work under their contract for the 

 construction of dam and canals, Belle Fourche irrigation pro- 

 ject, South Dakota. The scarcity of labor is responsible for 

 the delay in the work, and the engineers report that the 

 extension of time will not interfere with their plans. 



A report has been received by the chief engineer of the 

 reclamation service from the board of consulting engineers 

 recently convened at Mitchell, Neb., to open proposals for the 

 construction of a diversion dam and headworks, North 

 Platte irrigation project, Nebraska-Wyoming. No bids were 

 received on Schedule 1, consisting of the earth embankment 

 and but one bid on Schedule 2, the concrete structures. Mr. 

 G. F. Atkinson of Colorado Springs, Col., was the contractor 

 who submitted a proposal for the work of Schedule 2, and 

 the aggregate of the several items was $142,720. 



An Extension to March 15, 1907, has been granted to the 

 D'Olier Engineering Company of Philadelphia, for furnishing 

 an electric power plant for the Garden City irrigation pro- 

 ject, Kansas. According to the terms of the contract the 

 power plant was to be installed by January 20th, but owing 

 to some delay in design, work has not yet begun on the 

 power house and the project engineers recommended the ex- 

 tension. 



The reclamation service has formally released three cubic 

 feet of water per second of time, from the Clealum River, for 

 the use of the City of Clealum, Wash., and its inhabitants, 

 for domestic and municipal purposes. 



Piper Bros, of Pueblo, Col., contractors in charge of canal 

 construction on the Huntley irrigation project, Montana, have 

 formally transferred to the reclamation service their contract, 

 plant, material, supplies and commissary. The government 

 will complete the contract by force account, and has already 

 organized a force and work is under way. 



Owing to the unusual floods which have occurred on the 

 western side of the Cascades and which practically suspended 

 railroad traffic for a time, rendering it impossible for con- 

 tractors to present bids on the date fixed, the Secretary of 

 the Interior has extended the time of opening bids on the 

 main canal of the Tieton project and on the dam on Bump- 

 ing Lake, Wash., to November 19th at 2 o'clock p. m. 



The Secretary of the Interior has executed a contract 

 with Thomas Jaques, of Pilot Rock, Ore., for the construc- 

 tion and completion of about fifteen miles of main canal and 

 lateral ditches, Umatilla irrigation project, Oregon. The work 

 involves about 165,000 cubic yards of excavation and accord- 

 ing to the terms of 'the contract must be completed by May 

 1, 1907. The amount of Mr. Jaques' bid was $20,212.50. 



A contract has been executed with Pickering & Rush, of 

 Morrill, Neb., for the construction and completion of Schedule 

 13 of earthwork of distributing system, Interstate canal, North 

 Platte irrigation project, Wyoming-Nebraska. Schedule IS 

 consists of about eight miles of laterals and involves the ex- 

 cavation of 37,900 cubic yards of material and 1,000 cubic 

 yards of overhaul. The bid of the contracting party was 

 $6,053.50. 



An extension of time to June 1, 1907, has been granted 

 to W. D. Lovell, of Minneapolis, for the completion of his 

 contract for structures under the Huntley irrigation project, 

 Montana. Since the date of making this contract the amount 

 of. work required has been greatly increased, and the equiva- 

 lent of the work called for in the contract was completed 

 within the specified time. 



Bids were advertised for the construction of a diver- 

 sion dam and headworks, North Platte irrigation project, 



