THE SPIRIT OF THE WEST 



355 



GRAND VAIXEY PROJECT, COLORADO 



The preliminary plans have been made 

 for the beginning of construction of a 

 project in Grand Valley to irrigate 53,000 

 acres, of which 35,000 acres are public. It 

 is expected that two years will be required 

 to complete the works. The irrigable 

 area in the project, in the opinion of 

 horticultural experts, includes some of 

 the finest fruit land in the country. The 

 engineering works proposed include a 

 diversion dam of masonry, with a mov- 

 able crest; maximum height, 13 feet, and 

 450 in length ; 71 miles of canals and 

 12,000 feet of tunnels. 



FOUR PROSPEROUS TOWNS CREATED IN 

 IDAHO 



In the spring of 1904 I camped for 

 the night on the banks of Snake River, 

 Idaho. My companion, the engineer, 

 confided to me his plans for a great work 

 in this section which was to create in the 

 desert a garden covering 25 square miles. 

 He drew his plans roughly in the sand 

 as we sat by the camp-fire. 



"Here," he said, "I shall build a dam 

 to turn the waters into huge canals on 

 either side." When I returned another 

 year the dam was finished. Pointing to 

 a landscape of desolation, whose outer 

 ends touched the sky, and on which there 

 was no sign of human habitation, he said : 

 "This desert will one day become a show 

 place — a garden rich and productive, and 

 supporting in comfort a thousand fami- 

 lies." 



Last year, standing where I did three 

 years before, I realized that the engi- 

 neer's dream had come true. Look where 

 I would in any direction, I saw no desert. 

 Cultivated fields, with harvests ready for 

 garnering; pleasant little homes on each 

 40 and 80 acres ; children playing in the 

 sunshine, sturdy and happy ; the garden 

 crops being gathered for winter storage, 

 gave abundant evidence that the soil was 

 productive and, when watered, gave gen- 

 erous rewards to the farmer. 



Twenty-two hundred families are liv- 

 ing here today, when only a short time 

 ago there was no sign of human life. 

 Four prosperous towns, soon to become 



cities, have sprung up along the new rail- 

 road. This is a transformation to make 

 you rub your eyes with wonder and 

 amazement. 



IjST STRAWBERRY VALLEY, UTAH 



Bringing water, which now flows into 

 the Gulf of California, into Utah's great 

 interior basin, from which no streams 

 reach the sea, is an engineering work 

 which is engaging the attention of the 

 Government. 



In a camp situated near the snowy 

 summit of the Wasatch range a large 

 force of men is driving a tunnel four 

 miles long through the mountains, which 

 will bring a tributary of the Colorado 

 River into the Salt Lake Valley. A di- 

 version dam in the stream below now 

 diverts the water into a canal for several 

 miles to a point where a power plant has 

 been erected. The water is dropped 

 through a pressure pipe upon the tur- 

 bines, and the power generated is trans- 

 mitted to that camp, now almost buried 

 in the snow, where it is utilized to exca- 

 vate the tunnel. 



Far below a beautiful, sunny valley 

 awaits the completion of the work. It 

 lies at the foot of a lordly range of snow- 

 capped mountains, and, with the present 

 irrigation systems, is one of the richest 

 agricultural districts of the State. Its 

 crops are varied, and many are high- 

 priced. Peaches and apples do excep- 

 tionally well here, the fruit being finely 

 flavored and highly colored. 



UMATILLA PROJECT, OREGON 



On the banks of the Columbia River 

 and in the valleys of its numerous tribu- 

 taries in Washington and Oregon, there 

 has been a phenomenal development of 

 irrigation in the past four years. It is 

 only a marker for what is due to follow 

 in the coming years. Here is our true 

 Inland Empire, a region vast in extent, 

 drained by the noblest river in the West, 

 with soil of great depth and fertility and 

 a climate unsurpassed for the growing 

 of fruits of unrivaled color and flavor, 

 for vegetables of all kinds, and for the 

 cereals and forage crops of the north 

 temperate zone. In parts of this region 



