THE CALL OF THE WEST 



423 



lishing precise levels at both ends of the 

 tunnel. Before construction could be be- 

 gun a road was built into the canyon so 

 that heavy machinery could be brought 

 in. A town sprang up at the bottom of 

 the rock-walled chasm, a power plant 

 was erected, and after many months of 

 weary labor the drills began to eat into 

 the granite. On the other side of the 

 mountain another town was established 

 and similar work commenced. 



The total length of the tunnel will be 

 nearly six miles, of which five and a half 

 miles are now completed. Throughout 

 the entire period of construction the 

 work has been attended with difficulty 

 and danger; gas, cave-ins, and subter- 

 ranean springs of hot and cold water 

 have interposed obstacles, delaying the 

 work and requiring the utmost care in 

 its prosecution. 



The Uncompahgre Valley has been 

 getting ready for the coming of this new 

 water supply in 1910, which will make 

 fruitful 150,000 acres of desert, and 

 which will ultimately become one of the 

 rich agricultural and horticultural dis- 

 tricts of this continent. 



Colorado's second reclamation project 

 is located in the vicinity of Grand Junc- 

 tion and embraces some 50,000 acres of 

 the best land in the famous Grand Val- 

 ley — one of the most favorably situated 

 agricultural valleys in the world. This 

 is a region where scientific fruit-growing 

 is the rule and not the exception, and as 

 a result of the enterprise and intelligence 

 of its farmers fruit lands here have a 

 higher value than anywhere else on the 

 globe. The climate, soil, and elevation 

 are alike adapted to the growing of a 

 variety of products which in perfection, 

 color, and flavor are unexcelled. It re- 

 quires no particular gift of prophecy to 

 foretell that when the works are com- 

 pleted this valley will become one of the 

 nation's show places. The farms will be 

 small in area, making the settlements 

 compact ; intensive agriculture will be 

 extended, and large areas in high-priced 

 fruits will be cultivated. With cheap 

 water power right at hand, trolley lines 

 will be extended to all parts of the val- 



ley, affording facilities for cheap and 

 ready marketing of all products. There 

 is no reason why farm life will not ulti- 

 mately become more nearly suburban 

 than rural in character. 



The opportunities which exist here for 

 making a farmer's life attractive will not 

 be overlooked. We may confidently look 

 for a citified country. Constant contact 

 and association with his neighbors will 

 bring about cooperation among the farm- 

 ers both in producing and marketing the 

 farm products. 



This is not a picture of fancy ; it is not 

 a dream of Utopia ; rather is it the in- 

 evitable result of intensive and scientific 

 cultivation of small farms, each occupied 

 by its owner and family. 



THE COLORADO RIVER AND ITS PROBLEMS 



The Colorado River, its watershed and 

 its wonderful delta, have long been sub- 

 jects of engrossing interest to the engi- 

 neers of the West. The desert of this 

 river is a distinctive feature in a region 

 full of natural wonders. A large portion 

 of it lies below sea level, and in recent 

 geologic period was the bed of the ocean. 

 From earliest time this great stream, 

 rising in the mountain fastnesses of dis- 

 tant Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah, has 

 been carving out a canyon through an 

 elevated plateau more than a mile deep 

 in places and unrivaled anywhere in the 

 world in scenic grandeur. During count- 

 less ages the Colorado has been grinding 

 to powder incalculable quantities of rock 

 and soil, building up a broad valley with 

 sedimentary deposits, and elevating its 

 bed above the level of the desert through 

 which it flows. As a whole, the Colorado 

 River probably offers the most interest- 

 ing as well as the most stupendous en- 

 gineering problem which exists in arid 

 America today. Solve it successfully, 

 and a million acres of desert in this coun- 

 try and half a million acres in Mexico 

 will furnish homes for more than a mil- 

 lion people. No power save that of the 

 Federal government can cope success- 

 fully with this problem. Mexico will 

 doubtless be willing to share her propor- 

 tionate part in the expense of storage 



