THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



149 



GOVERNOR FRANK R. GOODING. 



RECLAMATION SERVICE NOTES. 



Frank E. Gooding, governor of Idaho, was born 

 in England in 1859, came to the United States with 

 his parents in 1867, the family settling in Michigan, 

 where he lived until his seventeenth year. He then 

 moved to northern California, where he was later mar- 

 ried. In 1880 he went to the Wood River country in 

 Idaho at the time of the mining excitement there and 

 for a number of years was a contractor for mining and 

 smelting companies in getting out timber, saw-logs 

 and cord wood. 



Gradually he worked into the stock business and 

 later into the sheep business, which he has followed 

 during the last fifteen years. At present he is engaged 

 in farming, stock raising, merchandising and banking; 

 he is one of the principal owners of improved land in 

 the State, a large owner of thoroughbred sheep, having 

 the best band of thoroughbred Lincolns in the West. 



f 



Gov. Frank R. Gooding of Idaho. 



For the last fifteen years he has made his home 

 in Lincoln county, from which county he was sent to 

 the State Senate for the Fifth session. He was chair- 

 man of the State central committee of his party for 

 four years, elected governor in 1904, and has just been 

 re-elected to the same position. 



Governor Gooding has for a number of years taken 

 an active interest in the subject of irrigation, and he 

 was prominently identified with the work of the Four- 

 teenth National Irrigation Congress held at Boise, 

 Idaho, last September. 



Send $2.50 for The Irrigation Age one year and The 

 rimer of Irrigation, 300 page book. 



About Belle Fourche Project. 



Mr. Charles E. Wells, Supervising Engineer for the 

 Belle Fourche irrigation project, South Dakota, and the North 

 Platte project, Nebraska- Wyoming, who is in Washington 

 for a few days on business connected with his work, said 

 recently : 



"The diversion dam at Bell Fourche is nearly completed, 

 and it is expected that it will be finished in time to use for 

 irrigation the coming season. Work is being prosecuted on 

 the Belle Fourche dam, which is an earth structure about 

 1J4 miles long and 100 feet in height, and which creates a 

 reservoir covering between eight and ten thousand acres. 



"About 17 miles of main canal under construction will 

 probably be finished next season. Specifications have been 

 prepared for the construction of Sections 2 to 8 of the South 

 Canal and appurtenant structures, involving approximately 

 900,000 cubic yards of canal excavation, 7,200 cubic yards of 

 concrete, and 1,295 lineal feet of tunnel. 



"It will not be possible to use the Belle Fourche dam for 

 impounding water the present season, but a temporary canal 

 has been constructed so that it will be possible to irrigate a 

 considerable acreage under the project by means of this 

 canal. It is expected that by the season of 1908 the Belle 

 Fourche dam will be so far advanced in construction that it 

 may be used for impounding water in the reservoir and that 

 water will be distributed through the North and South Canals 

 to the lands under them. Much of the land under the project 

 has been settled upon and a desirable class of settlers is 

 preparing to make homes there." 



"We were obliged to close down the masonry work on 

 the Pathfinder dam about the middle of November on account 

 of freezing weather, but the contractors are continuing work 

 through the winter at the quarry and spillway, excavating 

 stone which will be used next season on the masonry work 

 on the dam. A large force of teams is also employed hauling 

 cement from Casper to the dam site, a distance of about 50 

 miles. At present about 10,000 barrels of cement are stored 

 at the dam site, and it is expected that the work of laying 

 masonry will begin early in the spring and be prosecuted with 

 vigor before the floods occur in May and June, during which 

 time work will have to be suspended. 



"The floods usually last until early in July, when the 

 waters in the North Platte River subside. The working season 

 will then last until probably about the middle of November. 

 It is expected that the bulk of the work on the dam will be 

 done the present season and that the dam will be completed 

 by the contractors before November, 1908. 



"Advertisements are out containing specifications for the 

 construction of the Pathfinder dike, and bids will be opened 

 for this work February 27th. The dike is an earth structure 

 reinforced with rock on the water side, and is constructed 

 for the purpose of supplementing the Pathfinder dam. On the 

 south side of the dam is a low place which requires to be 

 filled, and the dike is constructed for the purpose of preventing 

 the water running through this place. It will be about a 

 quarter of a mile long and about 35 feet high at the highest 

 point. It is expected that contracts will be let soon after 

 the opening of bids, and that the dike will be completed 

 by 1908. 



"The contract for the high pressure gates which are to 

 control the flow of water from the Pathfinder dam has 

 already been awarded, and the gates will be placed in position 

 before March 1, 1908. 



"About 150 miles down the river from the Pathfinder 

 dam the Whalen dam will divert the waters into the Inter- 

 state Canal. Bids for this dam were received January 9th, 

 and the contract probably will be awarded within a very 

 few days. 



"Forty-five miles of the Interstate Canal were completed 

 last season, and considerable land will be placed under irri- 

 gation from the finished portion of the canal this season. 

 Fifty miles more are under construction and will probably 

 be finished early the coming summer. One hundred and 

 thirty-five miles of laterals are also under construction and 

 during the season of 1908 a large amount of land under the 

 Interstate Canal will be ready for irrigation." 



