newell.] UMATILLA RIVER, OREGON. 71 
During the low- water stage of the Umatilla River there are times when the mill 
can not run its full capacity on account of the shortage of water. It is then custom- 
ary to run one turbine, and let the water in the ditch hack up and accumulate for 
a head ; then the other wheel is put in operation. Each wheel has certain duties, and 
at these times each branch of the work of milling is taken up separately. During 
this period the mill utilizes all the water of the river. The period varies during 
different years, and usually commences July 1. This water right is considered very 
valuable and is not contested. The water could be utilized to good advantage to 
the town of Pendleton for power in connection with the lighting of the town by 
electricity. 
THE UMATILLA IRRIGATION COMPANY OF OREGON. 
On the north and west of the town of Pendleton, Oreg., between the Umatilla 
and Columbia rivers, is an immense body of agricultural land, which has been set- 
tled upon for a number of years and cultivated. Wheat was the principal crop, and 
an excellent yield has been had ; but, on account of the scarcity of rainfall, crops 
have failed in recent years, and most of the farms have been abandoned. This, of 
course, has been a great loss to the town of Pendleton. Efforts to reclaim the dis- 
trict were made in the year 1890, and as a result the Umatilla Irrigation Company 
was incorporated in that year. 
The line of the proposed canal commenced in and ran through a portion of the 
Umatilla Indian Reservation, and the sanction of the United States Government was 
necessary. Steps were taken to get the desired authority, the outcome being the 
passage of a bill by Congress, in February, 1891, allowing the company to proceed 
with its work of reclamation, the consent of the Indians being required. This con- 
sent was obtained, and the Indians were compensated in the sum of $1,955. The 
land to be reclaimed lies on a plateau whose average elevation above sea level in 
1,400 feet. The elevation of the river at Pendleton is about 1,070 feet, while the 
fall of the Umatilla River between Gibbon, at the mouth of Meacham Creek, and 
Pendleton averages about 32 feet per mile. 
The lands slope from the mountains to the Columbia River, and are all capable of 
being irrigated. The actual amount of land to be irrigated, however, depends 
entirely upon the available supply of water. The company has contracted to supply 
1,500 acres of good land with water for irrigation purposes at the rate of $3 per acre 
per annum for a period of thirty years, the amount of water to be delivered to be 
1 acre-foot between March 1 and July 1. The contract provides for the delivery 
of water to the land free of cost at the expiration of the thirty-year period, the 
payment of the annual pro rata expense of the cost of maintenance being the only 
provision. The contracts are a mortgage upon the land and a first lien upon the 
crops irrigated. 
The company proposes to divert water from the Umatilla River at a point about 
18 miles above Pendleton by means of a crib diverting dam extending across the 
stream. The location of the diversion is on the NW. % sec. 3, T. 2 N., R. 35 E., Wil- 
lamette meridian. The water is to be carried down the side hill of the canyon in a 
box flume 6 by 8 feet, with a grade of 1 foot in 500 feet. In all, there are to be 4.5 
miles of this fluming. From the end of this flume the water is carried through an 
ordinary side-hill canal. At a point about 9f miles from its head the water is 
brought to the hilltop and leaves the canyon. From this point it is carried in a gen- 
eral northerly direction toward the town of Adams, on Wild Horse Creek. The canal 
crosses Wild Horse Creek by means of a flume 40 feet high, and from thence is car- 
ried in a westerly direction, following the general contour of the country until it 
reaches a point opposite the town of Pendleton and distant about 2 miles from it. 
Here the location survey ends. From the head to this point the canal is 49 miles in 
length. The canal is designed for a capacity of 560 second-feet, and is to be 28 
feet wide ov» the bottom ; maximum depth, 7.5 feet; side slopes, 1 to 1 ; uniform grade 
