newell.] M'KAYE CREEK, OREGON. 73 
stored during the high-water stage of the Umatilla River and Butter Creek. The 
proposed canal is to be the same in description as the existing work, following the 
same gradient, etc. 
THE BLUE MOUNTAIN IRRIGATION AND IMPROVEMENT COMPANY. 
In the SW. i sec. 1, T. 1 S., R. 33 E., Willamette meridian, the north and south 
forks of McKaye Creek join and flow in a westerly direction as the main stream of 
McKay e Creek. At a point about 7 miles below this junction the creek turns to 
the north and flows in a direction a little west of north, and empties into the Uma- 
tilla River 3 miles below Pendleton. From the high bend of the creek to the 
Umatilla River McKaye Creek runs about parallel to the course of Birch Creek. 
These two streams are separated from each other by a narrow ridge or bench con- 
taining about 12,000 acres of irrigable land. To the east of McKaye Creek, below the 
bend of the creek, and lying between McKaye Creek and the line of the diminished 
reserve of the Umatilla Reservation, is another body of hue irrigable land, con- 
taining in all about 18,000 acres. To the east of this body of land lies the Umatilla 
Reservation, containing many thousands of acres of fine land, which is at the present 
time cultivated by the Indians in wheat and other cereals. 
McKaye Creek, from the junction, runs through a narrow valley, almost a canyon, 
with hills on each side. In its course from the junction of the north and south 
forks there is a fall of about 47 feet. This part of the stream is perennial in its 
flow, and carries a considerable amount of water. 
The Blue Mountain Irrigation and Improvement Company propose to utilize the 
waters of McKaye Creek for the purpose of irrigating the lands described above. 
They have secured by act of Congress the right to divert the waters of this stream 
which run upon the diminished Umatilla Reserve, which act also gives them the 
right of way across a certain part of the reservation. Their project is to impound, 
by means of a dam and reservoir, the flood waters of this stream and conduct them 
through a canal and a branch canal upon the lands in question. 
By constructing a dam across the main stream just below the forks it is possible 
to back the waters of the stream up for a considerable distance. A dam 60 feet high, 
with a height of 54 feet for the wasteweir, would back the water for a distance of 
li- miles up the forks. The proposed dam site is a natural one. On one side (the 
south) a perpendicular ledge of rock juts out into the water. On the north side there 
is a more gradual slope away from the river. It is proposed to make the wasteweir 
ou top of this ledge, and to tunnel through it below for the outlet of the water to 
the canal. The capacity of the reservoir is estimated to be 1,700,000,000 gallons. 
It is proposed to carry the water from this reservoir onto the lands to be irrigated 
by means of a canal of the following dimensions: For the first 7 miles the canal is 
to be 10 feet wide on the bottom, 18 feet on top, with average depth of 3 feet 6 
inches, and the excessively large grade of 5 feet to the mile. The canal, after leav- 
ing the reservoir, winds its way down toward the bend of the stream below. The 
water is then carried up onto the narrow bench between Birch Creek and McKaye 
Creek, where the line follows down the crest of the ridge, and is to be utilized in 
covering the land between the two creeks. At a point 7 miles below the dam site 
it is proposed to cross McKaye Creek by means of an inverted syphon 3,200 feet in 
length, with a fall of 20 feet in that distance, and to run a branch line of the canal 
down on the north and east side of McKaye Creek, covering within the diminished 
reserve between the reserve line and McKaye Creek about 18,000 acres. 
NORTH YAKIMA STATION, ON NACHES RIVER. 
This station was established August 14, 1893, by Mr. F. H. Newell, 
at a point a few hundred yards above the month of the Naehes River, 
near the bridge of the Northern Pacific Eailroad. The vertical gage 
