360 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



The activities of the Government, 

 which began in this valley almost imme- 

 diately after the passage of the Reclama- 

 tion law, have resulted in a large increase 

 in population and in land values. 



As an engineering task, the irrigation 

 work laid out here by the engineers, and 

 now nearing completion, is perhaps the 

 most interesting as well as the most im- 

 portant yet undertaken. To provide an 

 adequate water supply for 240,000 acres 

 of land which, when irrigated, jump in 

 value from nothing to $100 or more an 

 acre is a task well worthy of considera- 

 tion. This is especially true if an invest- 

 ment of $8,500,000 will accomplish it. 



Difficult and trying indeed has been 

 the task, owing to the physical conditions 

 and the extremely erratic character of 

 the river which furnishes the water. To 

 •understand the problem it is necessary to 

 view the work on the ground. 



The journey from Aiesa, in the valley, 

 to the scene of the big work covers a 

 distance of 62 miles, 20 miles of which 

 are across the desert. Here is a region 

 .quite unique in itself and differing mate- 

 rially from the deserts to the north. Its 

 vegetation is more varied and interesting. 

 The giant cactus here attains a great 

 height and is often found in groves. A 

 hundred species of thorny plants grow 

 ihere. 



At the end of the road across the desert 

 -we come upon a range of mountains 

 whose pinnacled peaks rise straight up 

 from the plain. Here our road leaves 

 the desert and we enter a region rugged, 

 ^lpended, with rocks painted in wonder- 

 ful colors. 



The Government has carved this high- 

 way for many miles from the walls of 

 rock. It is an inspiring trip, which would 

 be terrifying but for the fact the road 

 is broad and the grades are gentle. 



At the end of our journey we stand 

 on the brink of the wonderful gorge Salt 

 River has cut through the mountains. 

 "Far below us the stream winds its way 

 in a deep and shadowy canyon. Across 

 the entrance to that gash in the sand- 

 stone cliffs the engineers have thrust a 



massive dam of rock and cement, which 

 for all time will check the floods of the 

 turbulent stream. 



the; RoosE;vEiv'r dam 



The Roosevelt dam, which is about 

 completed as you read the story today, 

 is in many respects the most remarkable 

 structure of its kind in the world. Its 

 towering height, 280 feet, its length on 

 top, 1,080 feet, the inspiring scenery in 

 which it is located, and the enormous 

 capacity of the reservoir created by it 

 combine to make it one of the most 

 stupendous engineering works of modern 

 times. 



Conceive, if you can, two valleys — one 

 12 miles, the other 15 miles in length, 

 and each from one to three miles wide — 

 transformed into a lake 200 feet deep in 

 places, and containing enough water to 

 cover Delaware a foot deep. 



The Salt River reservoir, when full, 

 h^s a capacity sufficient to fill a canal 300 

 feet wide and 19 feet deep extending 

 from Chicago to San Francisco. It 

 would submerge the entire city of Chi- 

 cago, which embraces 190 square miles, 

 a depth of 11^ feet. 



My one regret is that the space al- 

 lotted me is too little to permit me to 

 describe the charms and advantages of 

 other projects of the Government. I 

 should like to tell you of the opportuni- 

 ties on the Klamath project, located in 

 southern Oregon, in a region of unrivaled 

 scenic beauty ; of the wonderful progress 

 made in the Boise Valley, in Idaho, and 

 the promise of even greater advance as 

 the work of the Government nears com- 

 pletion; of the Orland project, in the 

 Sacramento Valley, the land of fruits 

 and flowers; of the Rio Grande Valley, 

 where there will one day be erected the 

 most stupendous dam in the West — a 

 region in which irrigation began before 

 the Spanish invasion, which will become 

 fruitful and prosperous. 



The beacon of hope shines brightly in 

 the West. It beckons the landless man 

 to the manless land. 



