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The National Geographic Magazine 



of the main canal and the laterals there- 

 under was begun in March, 1906, and 

 completed in 1907. From this canal 

 water will be delivered to from 12,000 

 to 15,000 acres during the irrigation 

 season of 1908. The lands under the 

 project are of good quality. The prin- 

 cipal crops grown are alfalfa, wheat, 

 oats, barley, rye, vegetables, and some 

 deciduous fruits. A few experiments in 

 sugar-beet culture show that it is prob- 

 able this crop can be successfully grown. 

 The principal town of the valley is Kla- 

 math Falls, located on Link River about 

 one mile below the lower end of Upper 

 Klamath Lake. Other towns in the valley 

 are Merrill, situated near Tule Lake, and 

 Bonanza, situated on Lost River, within 

 the so-called "upper project." The Cali- 

 fornia and Northeastern Railway is now 

 under construction to Klamath Falls. 



YUMA PROJECT 



President Roosevelt is responsible in a 

 measure for the present widespread in- 

 terest in the delta of the Colorado River, 

 having made it the subject of a special 

 message to Congress last session. This 

 region has been likened unto the wonder- 

 ful valley of the Nile, which it so greatly 

 resembles in soil, crops, and climate. The 

 world is familiar with the catastrophe 

 which threatened for a time to destroy a 

 very large area in the lower valley, but 

 few people appreciate the almost super- 

 human engineering feat by which this 

 powerful stream was forced back into its 

 old channel. This was accomplished by 

 the engineers of a great railroad com- 

 pany, which placed at their disposal vast 

 sums of money and almost the entire 

 equipment of the system. Since the river 

 was controlled the government work at 

 Yuma and above has progressed rapidly. 

 The great weir at Laguna is now within 

 700 feet of closing the river, and during 

 low-water stage this year heroic efforts 

 will be made to complete this structure. 

 The Laguna dam is interesting, as it is 

 the first structure of this kind to be 

 erected in the United States. It is similar 

 to several weirs built bv the English engi- 

 neers in Egypt and India. 



The project contemplates the reclama- 

 tion of about 100,000 acres in Arizona 

 and California. These lands are without 

 question the most valuable in the country 

 when watered. President Roosevelt, in 

 his message to Congress, said : "The most 

 conservative estimate after full develop- 

 ment must place the gross production 

 from this land at not less than $100 per 

 acre per year, every 10 acres of which 

 will support a family when under inten- 

 sive cultivation. Much of the land will 

 be worth from $500 to $1,500 per acre to 

 individual holders." Yuma, the principal 

 city in this section, is on the Southern 

 Pacific Railway. 



A VANISHED RACE 



A peculiar interest attaches to our far 

 Southwest, for the reason principally that 

 long before the first word of our Nation's 

 history was inscribed a semi-civilized 

 people dwelt there and cultivated its fer- 

 tile soil. Impenetrable mystery envelopes 

 the age in which they lived. With four 

 centuries of our own records to scan, sup- 

 plemented by seven centuries of Moki 

 traditions, the veil of the past thus parted 

 throws no ray of light upon this ancient 

 race. Their wonderful dwellings, perched 

 eyrie-like in the deep canyons, and the 

 long lines of their canals, choked with 

 the wind-swept drift of centuries, give 

 mute and pathetic evidence of their archi- 

 tectural and engineering skill. 



Frowning battlements overlooking the 

 desert, crumbling slowly into dust with 

 the weight of ages, breathe of war and 

 romance in an age forgotten. These 

 monster structures, containing millions of 

 pieces of stone, and the miles of canals 

 which embraced whole valleys, tell of a 

 thrifty home-loving husbandry. In these 

 voiceless and vacant ruins we may almost 

 read the story of Egypt of the scriptures, 

 of another people toiling under the des- 

 ert's brazen skies, wearily and painfully 

 executing the commands of another 

 Pharaoh. 



What Fate overtook them we shall 

 never know. Yet among these castled 

 cliffs we know that men have lived and 

 died, and vouths and maidens have re- 



