14 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



"THE WESTERN SLOPE" 



(Special Correspondence) 



This, of course, refers to the Rocky Mountains 

 and when the traveler boards the narrow gauge "Rio 

 (irancle" at Salida, Colo., visions appear to his mind's 

 eye the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of 

 things not seen. But soon we begin to see, and the 



Prosperity and Contentment Colorado Farm Hon':cs in the Uncompaligre Valley, Colo. 



famed Marshall Pass receives us and bids us look to 

 the four points, but especially onward, westward. 



So we reach the Western Slope. Down, down we 

 go into the "Gunnison Country," through the valley, 

 following the great trout stream and on into the Black 

 Cafion of the Gunnison, until we can go no farther, 

 and herein lies- the charm of this 

 great fissure over the Royal 

 Gorge. The imagination is left 

 full scope and until the Reclama- 

 tion Service intruded its irrigation 

 project, this was a terra incognita. 



So in man's mastery, we an- 

 nihilate distance and time, chang- 

 ing the face and course of nature, 

 removing mountains and touch- 

 ing with the rod of divination 

 man not only foretells but fulfills. 



Thus is created the Gunnison 

 Tunnel and thousands will per- 

 haps thoughtlessly proceed to ir- 

 rigate the fertile soil of the Un- 

 compahgre Valley as a matter of 

 course. But here we are on this 

 Western Slope, and what of it? 

 First, we must honor the great 

 Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, without whose enter- 

 prise the Indian and the prospector would still be 

 struggling for possession. 



We are presenting in this issue some halftones of 



views taken in that section of Colorado iraversed by 

 the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. We are informed 

 that Yice-President Brown, of the Denver & Rio 

 Grande Railroad, has announced that the first steps 

 in electrifying the Denver & Rio Grande system are to 

 be taken at once. The first unit to be electrified will 

 be from Helper. Utah, to Salt Lake City, 114 miles. 

 The second unit will be over Tennessee Pass, the great 

 continental divide in Colorado, and will involve the 

 electrification of the line from Salida to Minturn, Colo., 

 a distance of 87 miles. 



The I tali work will be commenced early in 1913, 



and it is hoped that it will be completed 



by the time the new two per cent detour 

 line over Soldier Summit is finished, in 

 July of that year. 



The Utah Utilities Company is to 

 furnish the power of the Utah lines, and 

 the Central Colorado Power Company 

 will probably furnish the electricity for 

 the Colorado lines. 



The improvements to be undertaken 

 by the Denver & Rio Grande, the Central 

 Colorado Power, and the Utah Utilities 

 Company will aggregate between twenty 

 and twenty-five million dollars, most of 

 which will be expended during 1913 and 

 1914. 



Other units in addition to the two 

 mentioned will be added from time to 

 time, and eventually the entire system 

 will be operated by electricity generated 

 by the great power in the torrents now 

 coursing down the mountain sides and 

 which is only waiting to be harnessed. 



This transition from steam to elec- 

 tric power is by far the most important 



improvement plan yet announced by the new manage- 

 ment of the Denver & Rio Grande. 



A contract has been awarded to the Utah Con- 

 struction Company, of Ogden, Utah, contract in the 

 sum of $1,500.000 for the grading of the new double- 

 track detour line over Soldier Summit, where the rail- 



Potato Field, Surface Creek, Colo. 



road crosses the Wasatch Range in Utah. This change 

 involves the building of fifteen miles of new line and 

 reduces the grade from four to two per cent. Con- 

 struction will commence at once, and contract calls 



