3 d _D [:, eA/^^^%1 N F 05- CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Cornell University Library F 782U5 M36 olin 3 1924 028 879 249 DATE DUE TrTz: Q7sWl^s -DFC^ffl jyjji'"'' \ nswh*-^ 'A CArLORD PRINTED IN U.S.A. Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028879249 The Uncompahgre Valley and the Gunnison Tunnel H p-1 ^^^ "^"^•^s^- UNCOMPAHGRE VALLEY AND THE -^1- GUNNISON TUNNEL A Description of Scenery, Natural Re- sources. Products, Industries, Ex' ploration. Adventure, &-c By Barton W. Marsh -*•■ :=? -:• ^ Published by MARSH and TORRENCE MONTROSE, COLO. 1905 Entered according to Act of Congress, -in the Year 19 5 By BARTON W. MARSH In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. All Bights Reserved. INTERNATIONAL PUB, ASS'N Publishers, Printers and Translators College View, Lincoln, Nebraska PREFACE THIS book has been prepared, with a sincere desire to assist those who contemplate making a change of loca- tion, and for the benefit of all who seek accurate informa- tion about the Uncompahgre Valley, which the Gunnison Tunnel project has brought so prominently before the people of the United States. The men whose names appear in the back of the book as advertisers are men of good character and re- liable business standing, who are personally known to the compilers, and to them we cheerfully refer all who on perusing the following pages may desire to make further investigation. The cost of this work to the purchaser is but a few cents. If it proves a means of saving him dollars in trav- eling expenses, etc., we shall feel that its mission has not been in vain. The Compilees. [IX] te^.^?5r^v " LAXE ON GEAND MESA. ELEVATION 10,000 FEET. COLORADO Beyond, a thousand miles to westward Of the dark and sullen waters Of the sluggish winding river Called Missouri by our fathers ■, Over plains, deserted, barren, Save for coyotes tuneless snarling; Save for dry and warning rattle, As the snake glides to his cover ; Save for sharp and cheerless barking Of the prairie dog defiant ; Save for owl that sits in silence In the place of his seclusion ; Save for here and there a rabbit Speeding on to secret hiding ; Save for cactus and the yucca, And for sagebrush, twisted, gnarling — Lies a land of streams and fountains. Where the sparkling waters tumble From the lofty, snowy mountains Down to valleys grand and fertile, Marked by homesteads, broad and narrow, Carpeted with green alfalfa, With wild grasses and red clover, (13) 14 THE UNCOMPAHGRE VALLEY "With the yellow wheat and barley, With white oats, and rye dark golden ; Trimmed with stately trees of apple, Trees of peach, and pear, and cherry, Trees of every kind and species In such latitude produced, Growing there in rich pro- fusion ; All the vegetables and berries. All the delicacies and dainties That an epicure would cherish ; Home of countless sheep and cattle. Home of horses strong and noble, Feeding peaceful on the products Grown upon the land so fertile. Moistened by the laughing waters, That come rolling down the gorges, High above the lowly val- leys Are recesses in the moun- tains, Found by winding trails and roadways, THREE YEAR OLD APPLE TREE Leading up and ever higher, Over crags and into canyons, Over snows and into gulches, Over leaping moun- tain torrents Raging, tearing, roar- ing, foaming Leading into stately forests, Leading into caves and caverns. AND the; GUNNISON TUNNEL 15 Leading into shafts and tunnels ; Where the yellow gold is buried, Where the silver hides its treasures. Where the lead is in abundance. Where the copper lies deep hidden, Where the wealth of iron slumbers, Where the stores of precious metals, Wait the hand of honest labor. Deep within the mountain's bowels, Ever working, never ceasing, Daring miners are engaged, SCENES m BLACK CANTON AND THE GUNNISON TUNNEL 17 Pounding, driving, drilling, breaking, From their rocky fastness tearing Out the treasures there enstored. There the mills are ever rumbling, Day and night in work unceasing, Rolling, grinding, stamping, crushing. Shaking, washing and refining Yellow, glittering, golden treasure. White and sparkling lead and silver. Somber looking zinc and copper. Strong and lasting steel and iron. From the ore the sturdy miner Gathers from the shaft and tunnel. Violet growing by the snowbank. Columbine by fir tree stately. By the river course, clematis, geanite needles. Pure white primrose in the valley. Everywhere profuse ^of flowers. Everywhere the golden sunshine, Ever, ever, ever, flooding Stately hills and lowly valleys, Stretching plains and lofty mountains, Quiet nooks and noble plateaus. Pouring down in streams imceasing, Uncompahoke Vallet— 2 18 THE UNCOMPAHGRE VALLEY In the autumn and the winter, In the springtime and the summer ; Sparkling on the glittering snowcap, Shining on the fleecy cirrus, Shining on the glossy stratus, Shining on the massive cumulus, Shining on the pregnant nimbus. Shining through the storm and tempest. Shining on "and ever shining, Blushing in the mountain fastness, Flirting with the dancing torrent. Gleaming on the level prairie, Golden gleaming, silvery streaming — In the state of Colorado, Famous, glorious Colorado. 3*«2^£^3^ LAKE ON GRAND MESA. CHAPTER I SITUATION AND SURROUNDINGS In the heart of the Rocky Mountains, three hundred and fifty miles southwest of Denver, lies the Uncompahgre Valley, which is destined to become, within a short time, one of the most beautiful and fruitful garden spots on the face of the earth. The Uncompahgre is not a large valley. It has an aver- age width of twelve miles and is about thirty-five miles long, containing about one hundred and eighty-five thous- and acres of irrigable land. The Uncompahgre River flow.? through the entire length of the valley, and it is from this stream that the present water supply for irrigation pur- poses is drawn. The situation of the Uncompahgre Valley is ideal. It is completely surrounded and shut in by the everlasting hills. To the south may be seen about seventy-five miles of the San Miguel Mountain Range, which is a portion of the [21] 22 THE UNCOMPAHGRE VALLEY backbone of the Continent. This range is one of unsur- passed grandeur, its many, lofty peaks being covered with eternal snows. In many places the perpendicular walls of its rugged sides have never been scaled by man, and its yawning chasms and abysmal canyons are among the won- ders of the world for awe-inspiring grandeur and stupen- dous magnitude. To the north, visible from all parts of the valley, towers the Grand Mesa, which rears its flat top ten thousand feet heavenward. For miles and miles its mighty bulk stretches away to the eastward, until it is lost to view in the maze of unmeasured distance. It has been set apart by the Government for a reserve, and as a result its summit and sides are covered with a dense growth of evergreen timber, and it is carpeted with a luxuriant covering of green grass. There are many beautiful lakes upon its summit, which are teeming with mountain trout, and it is the natural home of the deer and wild animals of every description. To our eastern friends who are sweltering in the heat of their long and oppressive summer. Grand Mesa sends an urgent invitation to seek its refreshing borders for rest and pleasing recreation. Bordering the upper end of the valley on the west is the Horsefly Mountain Eange. This range is covered to the summit with a luxuriant growth of mountain grasses, and presents an attractive appearance at all times. Towering above the upper end of the valley on the east is the Saw Tooth Bange. Its summit is ragged and broken, |2i W K O n o Hi o AND THE GUNNISON TUNNEL 25 covered with jutting spires of gxanite, which gives it the name of Saw Tooth. It produces a heavy growth of timber from which the inhabitants of the valley draw material for all purposes. ITorth of the Saw Tooth Mountains and running parallel with the valley for its entire length, is the separating ridge that divides the TJncompahgre Valley from the beautiful Gunnison Eiver. MINING. Buried beneath the rocky fastnesses of these mighty hills are incalculable treasures of gold, silver and other precious metals. Day and night, winter and summer, thousand of miners are at work, blocking out the treasures of wealth contained in the mines to be crushed in the mills, melted in the smelters and reduced in the refineries until the pure bullion of gold and silver is given to the commerce of the entire world. We are powerless to measure the ex- tent of our ore deposits, and space will not admit of an adequate description of the mining industry of southwest- ern Colorado. Just a few miles from the upper end of the valley is located the famous Camp Bird mine, which has produced millions in gold and silver, and at the present time has millions more blocked out waiting to be removed to the smelters and mills, there to be refined and poured into the coffers of the world. Underlying much of our land are vast coal deposits, the extent of which has never been estimated, but sufficient 26 THE TJNCOMPAHGRB VALLEY investigation has been made to satisfy all that we have an inexhaustible supply of coal within our borders. The. vast mining industries adjacent to the Uncompahgre Valley afford a stimulus to our commerce that can be f onn(J if -i* A^ 4^ s ? »1 tf'^^^^fe ^j^^H ^ ^A M <( O fl hi o 1^ M P O CHAPTER II PvESOUPvCES AND PRODUCTS On removal of the Indians the Uncompahgre Valley was thrown open for settlement. As is usual in such cases, a great number of people were hovering upon the borders of the terrftory, waiting for the arrival of the day when they would be allowed to drive their location stakes upon a piece of land. Within a short time a large portion of the acceptable land of the valley was located, and the work of taking out ditches for the purpose of irrigation was earnestly begun. The indications at that time were that the Uncompahgre River contained a sufficient water supply for all the land to which it was accessable. Farms were laid out, and homes were rapidly built, until from Delta to Montrose the country began to take on the appearance of thrift and industry. [35] 36 THE UNCOMPAHGRE VALLEY WATER PEOBLEMS. I It was soon discovered that the soil possessed remarkable productive power, and that under careful culture and the proper application of water enormous crops of all products indigenous to the latitude could be grown; but along with this pleasing fact it soon became apparent that the water supply afforded by the Uncompahgre Eiver was insuffi- cient to properly water the lands already occupied by the enterprising homemakers. As years passed and new ditches were taken out, the water supply for all became less abundant, until many were compelled to abandon their promising farms, which were by that act allowed to again relapse, into a wilderness. The stubborn fact was at last developed that the water supply afforded by the Uncom- pahgre River was not sufficient to properly irrigate more than ten thousand acres of land, and upon this basis the inhabitants of the valley were at last forced to settle, with no hope at that time of any relief being offered. A mighty torrent of water plunged through the Black Canyon of the Gunnison Kiver, only sixteen miles away ;_ but it was separated from the Uncompahgre Valley by a massive mountain range, and none at that early date dared dream of a diversion project that would turn its liquid wealth upon the thirsty lands of the valley. The soils of the Uncompahgre "Valley vary greatly, ac- cording to location. The Mesa lands are gray adobe, red adobe and red sandy loam. The river bottom land is AND THE GUNNISON TUNNEL 37 "Home of countless sheep and cattle." black sandy loam,- formed by deposits that have been washed down from the mountains. These lands are pro- nounced by soil experts to be the strongest in productive^ power of any in the world. PEOBUCTS. Owing to the limited water supply a larger acreage of the occupied lands of the valley have been farmed in alfalfa than in all other products combined. Alfalfa is a great drouth resister, and will produce an average crop of four tons per acre. It is without question the most per- fect, all-purpose feed grown. Cut when just coming into 3S THE UNCOMPAHGRE VALLEY blossom, and properly cured, it is a hay par excellent. Thousands of beef cattle and sheep are annually fattened upon it without the aid of any other feed, and it is safe to say that seventy-five per cent of the work stock employed on the farms in the valley are given no other food. AH the lands of the valley are adapted to alfalfa raising. "Home of horses strong and noble." Grain products thrive in all portions of the valley. Wheat produces from forty to seventy-five bushels per acre ; instances of yields of seventy-five bushels per acre being numerous, and it is not at all uncommon for an entire field to average sixty bushels per acre. The yield of oats will run from sixty to one hundred and ten bushels, and in 1904 many fields produced from eighty to ninety bush- AND THE GUNNISON TUNNEL 41 els per acre. Barley is a good crop, and produces a large yield when properly cared for. All kinds of vegetables are grown in abundance. At the Western Slope Fair held at Montrose, in the fall of 1904, one man exhibited one hundred and seventeen vari- ties of vegetables, all grown upon his own farm. This samcj man produced in 1904 on thirty-two hundred square feet of land $80.00 worth of early peas. Thirty-two hundred square feet of land is ,a little less than one-fourteenth of an acre, and in that proportion one acre will produce an income of a little more than $1,100.00. This is not an iso- lated instance. Another man produced and sold from four and one-half acres of groimd, in 1904, $4,560.00 worth of onions. This gentleman is O. IT. Horton, who at the time was Commissioner for Montrose county. The average potato yield in the Uncompahgre Valley is twenty-five thousand pounds per acre, and in many in- stances in 1904 the yield was thirty-five thousand poimds per acre. Tons of potatoes are grown which will average twenty potatoes to the bushel, and potatoes weighing five and six pounds are not uncommon. These are not pithy and soggy, as large potatoes in many localities often are but they are sound to the core, cook mealy and possess ti flavor never . excelled and rarely equaled. There is out- side market for potatoes, and the price is seldom below sixty cents per hundred pounds. Potatoes are a standard crop in the Uncompahgre Valley, and in ordinary seasons net the farmer $100.00 per acre above all expenses. There 42 THE UNCOMPAHGRE VALLEY WHEAT-PIELD PIFTT BUSHELS PEE ACEE. have been' two instances of over-production of potatoes in twenty-four years. The population of the valley is made up of people com- ing from all parts of the United States and Canada, as well as a substantial class of citizens of foreign birth. With but few exceptions all unite in declaring that the Un- compahgre Valley is unexcelled in any part of the world for productive soil and congenial, healthful climate. The soil is full of vitality and strength and responds to intensive cultivation. It will produce in proportion to the care bestowed upon it. As yet the limit of productive possibilities has not been reached in the Uncompahgre Valley. The merry ripple of the crystal waters of the Gunnison Eiver through the irrigating canals of the Valley will sound the death knell for slack and indifferent farm- AND THE GUNNISON TUNNEL 43 ing. It will usher in conditions that will demand the most thorough system that can be devised for the tilling of the soil. It will bestow upon the inhabitants of that section the key to soaring possibilities, the limit of which human wisdom cannot forecast. The treasure of all wealth is looked in the soil, and in the Uncompahgre Valley ifTature has been prodigal in the bestowment of her bounties. SMALL FAEMING THE BEST. The farmers have long since learned that large farms in most cases are to be avoided, if one desires to accomplish the best results. They have learned that a small place well cared for is far more profitable than a large farm poorly cultivated. The eastern farmer who has been accustomed lEEIGATING STRAWBERRY FIELD. 4 THE UNCOMPAHGRB VALLEY to handling a one hundred and sixty acre farm will find upon locating in the Uncompahgre Valley, that forty acres is equal in every respect to one hundred and sixty acres in the east. He will find that, properly handled, he can em- PICKI^'Q STEAWBEBEIES. ploy as many men on forty acres as he employed in the east on one hundred and sixty acres, and at the same time realize a larger net return than is possible on a large farm in the east. There is legitimate reason for this, and that reason is, that the land in the Uncompahgre _ Valley has never yet been taxed to the limit of crop production. Among farmers, as among no other class, there is a ten- dency to take on more work than can be successfully ac- complished. This is especially true in irrigated countries. In the spring when the work is moving nicely, and not AND THE GUNNISON TUNNEL 45 crowding, and appearances indicate a good year, the aver- age farmer thinks he will spread out and make a big thing, and as a result of the spreading process he takes on more work than he can successfully handle during the rushing season, and so at last finds himself literally swamped with weeds and work, with no recourse but to let matters drift, and do the best he can. This brings discouragement and dissatisfaction to many farmers, who might by cutting half in two the acreage they are trying to farm find upon that reduced basis abundant remuneration for their labor. The time for intensive cultivation of small tracts of land has fully come. Ten acres of Uncompahgre Valley .■■'..-. ■v^p \i'\- ::..lii^i C '■ I^K ■ H^ ^^ ffiH|HHp^ ^aSMi^*'' \fe. Jf^. fey J :m^ [ ■ ''-'^^^^m J^ElMH^wj '^^^^^B^r ^^^^^B ^" ir^l Bti^^^H "PP;^:; -.v V • GOOSEBEEBIES, ONE HALF NATURAL SIZE. 46 THE UNCOMPAHGRE VALLEY land in fruit, berries, vegetables, etc., is enough to provide a comfortable income for any family, while in many cases a smaller acreage would be better, and would afford more satisfactory results. It is true that if one decides to en- gage in etock raising, a larger acreage may be profitab'v handled in hay and grain, but mcFt of the land will in a short time become too valuable to devote to such purposes. The ouormously prodn(;tive soil must be seen and studied to be appreciated. It is iinpossible to put upon paper an adequate description of the resources and products of the valley. The land will do all that is claimed for it in this book, and then the half is not told. FETJIT CULTURE. Fruit culture is one of the valley's most important in- dustries. The Uncompahgre Valley challenges the world in apple production. The fruit is large, well formed, smooth, free from disease, and possesses a flavor and keep- ing qualities that cannot be excelled. The fruit is said to be the most perfect and to possess the richest color that science has yet been able to produce. During the fruiting season thte valley enjoys a cloudless sunshine, which, with the system of irrigation employed, applying the water at just the time required, imparts a color and flavor that has become famous in all parts of the world. Fruit failures are unknown in the Uncompahgre Valley; The peach is the most delicate fruit tree grovm in the valley, and there has been only one peach failure in twenty-five years. p 1-1 1-1 > M O W <^ O o t3 AND THE GUNNISON TUNNEL 49 Apple orchards, wlien in full bearing, and of proper varieties, such as Jonathan, Winesap, Ben Davis and other standard apples, will net the grower from $150.00 to $500.00 per acre. Uncompahgre Valley apples are always in demand, and buyers are on the ground as soon as the crop is insured against frost in the spring, and will advance money on the prospective crop for the purpose of assisting the grower to care for the same until it is gathered and ready for shipment. Apple trees will usually begin bear- ing the third year after planting, and will attain a well developed growth in from seven to nine years. ISText to the apple in point of commercial importance stands the peach. There are but few places in the United States where peaches can be successfully and profitably grown. The Uncompahgre Valley is one of these most favored places. The Elberta is the leading variety, which is no doubt due to its beautiful appearance, size, flavor and excellent shipping qualities. In many sections where peaches are groAvn it is found necessary to heel the trees every winter, but such is not the case in the Uncom- pahgre Valley. They require no more attention than the apple; and the trees being unusually vigorous attain a greater age than in any other place known to the writer. There are peach orchards in the valley that have been in bearing for fifteen years, which are still strong and vig- orous, and were in 1904 loaded with delicious fruit One ten-acre peach orchard in 1904 produced fifteen thousand boxes of Elbertas, which netted the owner fifty cents per XiNOOMPAHaBB VALLKT — * 50 THE. UNCOMPAHGRB VALLEY box in the orchard, clearing for him the neat little sum of $7,500. Other and greater productions can be cited. Ap- ple, peach, pear, cherry, apricot, plum, prune, quince, and nectarine are the principal tree fruits grown in the valley. Berry culture is an important industry, strawberries being grown for the trade in large quantities. It is rare that an acre of strawberries will produce loss than $700.00 worth of fruit, and many instances are known where au acre has produced $1,200.00 worth of marketable berries. At the time of this writing, the twenty-sixth of June, the strawberry season is at its height, and a few days ago the writer assisted in gathering berries, the smallest of which measured four and one half inches in circumference, and it required just twenty of them to make a yard of berries. Six of the largest ones measured a foot, lying side by side. Other berries, such as raspberries, blackberries, dewber- ries, etc., are grown in abundance, but the strawberry is the leader in this line of produce. AND THE GUNNISON TUNNEL 51 We wish to emphasize the fact that the results herein related are not accomplished by an indifferent and listless method of cultivation. Skill combined with the most thorough work has been required to bring forth these marvelous productions. It may require but little skill or science to sow a field to grain or alfalfa, and gather some return therefrom for the labor expended, but the thorough COEN AND PTTMPKINS. farmer figures to receive the maximum return for labor expended, and he realizes that it will require all the skill he possesses to draw from the soil the treasure it contains. Most of the lands contain a small per cent of adobe, which will, when covered with water and then subjected to the heat of the sun, become as hard as burnt brick, by which it will be readily seen that skill must be connected with labor in order to accomplish complete and satisfactory 52 THE UNCOMPAHGRE VALLEY results. The application of an improper tool could easily ruin the labor of an entire season. The injudicious appli- cation of water could in an hour destroy a good crop pros- pect for the year. This has been done times without num- ber by persons who have insisted upon applying eastern methods to the soil. When intelligently handled the land is easily worked, requires but little moisture, and will sur- pass the most vivid imagination in productiveness. We could not urge people to locate in the Uncompahgre Valley whose minds are not open to enlightenment upon the indus- trial problems the application of Gunnison water to the lands is bound to develop. STOCK^ POULTEY AND BEES. Stock raising is another very important industry of the valley. There are many reasons why the Uncompahgre Valley should be an ideal country for stock. First, the winters are never severe enough to demand shelter for the stock; there are no cold sleets to cover the animals with ice, thus causing them to shiver and contract with cold. There is no weather severe enough to prevent the stock from taking on fat when properly fed. The surrounding mountain ranges afford superior grazing for thousands of horses, sheep and cattle. The constant climbing, in con- nection with the atmospheric conditions, produces lung ex- pansion that develops the animal into the hardiest type of animal growth known. Uncompahgre Valley steers have been awarded both first and second prizes at the Chicago and St. Louis World's Fairs. AND THE GUNNISON TUNNEL 53 THOEOUGHBEED WHITE LEGHOENS. There are at the present time about sixty thousand head of high grade sheep in the valley. These vast flocks pro- duce annually forty thousand lambs, which top the eastern market. The wool pays all the expenses incident to the growing of the sheep, leaving the lambs cs the net profit. Sheep are self-supporting, the grazing lands furnishing ample pasture for all tinies of the year. Poultry raising is by no means a small indiistry in the TJncompahgre Valley. Many people are engaged exclusive- ly in this enterprise, and in all instances when given in- telligent attention it yields a handsome dividend. The climate and soils are especially adapted to poultry raising, and the markets for poultry and eggs are all that could be desired. 54 THE UNCOMPAHGRE VALLEY HONET. Honey is a very important article of commerce ; there being approximately 5700 colonies of bees in the valley. The blossom of the alfalfa produces a fine quality of pure, white honey, for which there is always a good demand. A crop of honey and a crop of hay may be taken from the same field, and the income from one will be about as much as from the other. This has actually been done. It is a matter of much pride in the valley that the honey produced took the first prize at the great Fair at St. Louis in 1904. The Uncompahgre Valley is a land of sunshine and flowers, and these are essentiaf to the production of good honey. AND THE GUNNISON TUNNEL 55 THE SUGAR BEET INDUSTRY. Sugar beets have become a staple product in Colorado. This industry was introduced into the Uncompahgre Val- ley in 1904, and the average yield for that year was twelve ^^ Mji^^MM^iMi " 1 .: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ii'^-^'^i^3^^ ^m W^^^^M jI^^^.^'^jSmmBSc^^^mBmMHiI w^^^^^ y-'^^^^^MM ^^;^Ki^i^^M ^^^^^ 0^^^mM ^^^^Im( BEET FIELD TWENTY TONS PER ACRE. tons per acre. The industry was new to the people, much of the land was in poor condition, it having the previous year been run in grain or alfalfa, which left the ground filled with stubble and roots, making cultivation and irri- gation of the beets a laborious task. On land that was in proper condition for such croppage the yield was from eighteen to twenty-two tons per acre. In other places in Colorado, the first year's yield produced by inexperienced growers has not exceeded nine tons per acre. The same 56 THE UNCOMPAHGRB VALLEY places are now producing twenty tons per acre as an aver- age yield. The average amount of saccharine matter in the beets grown in 1904 was sixteen per cent; on some lands it ran as high as nineteen per cent. This has been proved by scientific test to be the highest per cent of sac- charine matter found in any sugar beets. This industry is bound to become one of the most important in the valley. There is a demand for all the sugar beets that can be grown, and sugar factories will soon be located in Delta, Olathe and Montrose. One factory will be built at one of the above named places to handle the crop of 1906. Sugar beet culture is a pleasant and profitable occupa- tion. It forces the farmer to make a war of extermination against weeds, and brings the land into a high state of cultivation, which causes the farm to present a beautiful appearance, and best of all it puts into the grower's heart the consciousness that he is engaged in a paying proposi- tion. There are many advantages presented in the growing of sugar beets. First, the grower knows in the spring, be- fore a seed is planted, what he will receive in cash for his crop in the fall. Second, he knows within a few dollars just what it will cost to produce his crop of beets, and if he is familiar with his land and understands his business, he knows within a few tons of what he can produce. There is no business in which a farmer can engage that requires so little risk as the growing of sugar beets. It is an indus- try in which he is reasonably safe in figuring ahead, for AND THE GUNNISON TUNNEL 57 he is not compelled to take chances on fluctuating prices. The preparation of the soil for this important crop is a matter worthy of considerable thought and careful con- sideration, and that which applies to the sugar beet crop applies to all other crops in the matter of soil preparation. Land in the Uncompahgre Valley should, whenever pos- sible, be plowed in the fall, and then thoroughly irrigated just before freezing time. The fall plowing loosens up the soil, and the late irrigation fills it with moisture so that it will freeze and thaw with every alternate char^^^d of weather throughout the winter. This process melts and pulverizes every clod and accomplishes the first and import- ant work of preparing the seed bed, which must be care- fully and thoroughly done if one desires perfect results. When the proper time for planting arrives, the beets should be drilled in the dry soil, after which they should be fur rowed and thoroughly watered. As soon as the ground is sufficiently dry a light harrow should be run over it for the purpose of leveling the ground to prevent the escape of the moisture, and at the same time to break up any crust that may have formed as a result of irrigation. From this time until the crop is matured good judgment must act the leading part in caring for the same. Sugar beets can be grown, harvested and placed on the car at a cost of $30.00 per acre. Most of the land will produce twenty tons per acre, which nets the owner a profit of $70.00 per acre. The best farms in the valley are now worth $100.00 per acre, and planted to sugar beets they will pay for them- 58 THE UNCOMPAHGRE VALLEY selves in two years. No other crop can be grown from which the farmer can realize such speedy and sure returns. Elberta peaches will net the grower from $400 to $1,000 per acre above all cost, but it requires from seven to nine years to bring a peach orchard into full bearing. Potatoes often net the grower $100 per acre, but the prices are subject to great fluctuation, and for this reason potato culture, while taken one year with another is a very pay- ing crop, does not rest upon the permanent basis that beet culture rests upon. We have endeavored in this chapter to simply set forth the principal products grown in the TJncompahgre Valley. Space has not admitted of an extensive description of any one product. Some upon reading this may be inclined to say that the facts have been overdrawn, but we beg to state that instead of overestimating the phenominal productive- ness of the lands of the TJncompahgre Valley, we have iu many instances feared to tell all that has been done in the matter of crop production. We wish it understood, how- ever, that the facts we have gathered relative to this mat- ter, have been taken from farms, orchards and gardens which have been thoroughly and intelligently handled. 'No one need expect to go into the TJncompahgre Valley and find farms that will take care of themselves. Results are only obtained from skill and intelligent labor. The more skillful and painstaking the labor applied the greater will be the results obtained. CHAPTER III PRESENT WATER SUPPLY, IRPvlGATlON, CLIMATE AND RECREATION The water supply for the purpose of irrigation in the Uncompahgre Valley is limited. The Uncompahgre River, from which ninety-five per cent of the water for irrigation is drawn, has its source from springs and the snow that falls in winter upon the San Miguel Mountain Range. Until the first of July there is usually water enough going down the river to irrigate the entire valley. This water comes from the melting snow, and as soon as it is gone, the water supply diminishes to about enough to thoroughly irrigate ten thousand acres of land. The valley is wholly dependent upon irrigation for the application of moisture upon the lands, as the rainfall is never sufficient to act any part in the preservation of crops from drouth. For two decades the farmers have struggled with the vexing problem of water shortage. Conscious that their lands were the most fertile in the world, they were forced [61] 62 THE UNCOMPAHGRB VALLEY to battle with the unequal conditions, caused by a water supply so limited that it would not. admit the cultivation of a single acre of the fertile lands that were lying un- touched from one end of the valley to the other. 'No in- ducements could be offered to immigration because the water supply was exhausted, and sixty five per cent of 'g WM% M'i'^ ^ ^r fe.- j| W^ " "~'i"i*iiwSHW OECilAED SCENE. the farms under cultivation had no assurance of water after the first of July. In spite of these unfavorable conditions, the limited acreage that had any semblance of a water right was carefully farmed, and owing to the exceeding fertility of the soil, good incomes were made and homes built up. AND THE GUNNISON TUNNEL 63 PEIOEITT OP WATER EIGHT. The present water supply is regulated from the river by means of commissioners appointed by the state. It is HEAD GATES OF CANAL. the duty of the commissioners to see that each ditch ap- propriates only the water to which it is entitled by priority right. Priority is a right granted by law, which is sacredly guarded in all irrigated countries where there is an in- sufficient water supply. Its purpose is to protect the ear- lier settler against those who, coming in at a later period, might attempt to appropriate a portion of the limited water supply. It is a right that is many times outraged, and yet it offers the only means of protection to water rights where there is insufficient water to cover all oc- 64 THE UNCOMPAHGRE VALLEY cupied lands. Where there is an abundance of water for all, priority right is inoperative. SYSTEM OF lEBIGATIOISr. The water is taken from the streams by means of ditches, through strongly built headgates, that the flood waters in WATEE DIVISION IN lEEIGATION NO. 1. the spring cannot wash away. Ditches are given sufficient fall to the mile to keep them free from any accumulation of sediment, drift and other matter that would naturally gather, were the water flowing on an easier grade. At proper places along the main ditches, lateral boxes are AND THE GUNNISON TUNNEL fi5 WATEE DIVISION IN lEEIGATION NO. 2. placed, having headgates that can be raised and lowered at will, for the purpose of regulating the flow of water. Through these boxes the water is drawn, and thence car- ried through smaller ditches to the places where it is to be applied to the lands. The water is taken from the laterals into what are called head ditches, which are ar- ranged to run upon the highest portions of the land to be irrigated. The land to be irrigated should be laid out in furrows, the space between varying according to the nature of the ground to be irrigated. These furrows should be about four inches deep, and thirty rods in length. A small stream of water should be turned into each furrow and left to run a sufficient length of time to thoroughly moisten the space tjNOOMPAHGBB VALLEI— 5 66 THE TJNCOMPAHGRE VALLEY between. It usually requires but a short time for the water to run the length of these furrows, and then it should be taken by another head ditch, and the process repeated on the land below. By this system of irrigation the water HOW WATEE IS DISTEIBUTED IN lEEIGATED EIELDS. does not flood the surface of the ground, which it is very essential to prevent, as flooded ground will invariably bake, thus causing great injury to the crop. Most crops require from three to five applications of water during the season, although excellent crops can be grown, when thorough cultivation is persisted in, with two waterings. Irrigated sections possess powerful advantages over sec- tions where rainfall is depended on for moisture. Under AND THE GUNNISON TUNNEL 67 irrigation, crops can be given moisture at just the right time to accomplish the best results. Products grown under irrigation possess qualities that can be obtained under no other system of farming. The cost for a season's irrigation varies from a few cents per acre where water is drawn from the small, co-opera- tive ditches, to $2.10 per acre when drawn from the large, company canals. The service rendered by the large canals is more efficient than that afforded by the smaller ditches, DELIVEEi:!fG WATER INTO THE WASTE DITCH. 68 THE UNCOMPAHGRE VALLEY lEEIGATION OF OECHAED IN DECEMBER. and requires no attention from the farmer. When the Gunnison Tunnel is completed the cost of water will be the same throughout the entire valley, no profits will be al- lowed to accrue from the sale of water, and the price paid will be fixed according to the actual cost of ditch main- tenace. CLIMATE. But little need be said about the climatic conditions of the Uncompahgre Valley, although the climate is one of the most important features for consideration in connection with any section that is extending invitation to prospective homemakers. The valley has a mean altitude of five, thous- and feet, and slopes to the northwest in gradual decline AND THE GUNNISON TUNNEL 69 of thirty-five feet to the mile. There is no such thing as nights being made uncomfortable by excessive heat. It is a pleasure and a rest to sleep at night during the hottest months of summer. During the night, summer and winter, there is always a current of air moving from the southeast to the northwest which is the general course of the valley. r: TUNNEL THEOUGH SNOWSLIDE. HEAD WATERS OF THE UNCOMPAHGEE EIVEE. In the direction from which the night breeze comes, at a distance of about forty miles, lies the San Miguel Moun- tains, which are a portion of the Continental Divide. These lofty peaks are covered with perpetual snow, and from this invigorating and refreshing storehouse of frozen wealth the night breeze of the Uncompahgre Valley is drawn. With the dawn of morning the current of air changes and is 70 THE UNCOMPAHGRB VALLEY dra"wii up the valley during the day. There is seldom a time during the day when circulation of a refreshing cur- rent of air cannot be felt. Sunstroke, cyclones and torna- does are unknown afflictions in the valley. The mean tem- CAMPINQ OUT. perature for the six months from June to November is 58.4 degrees, from l^ovember to June it is 37.5 degrees. For the three warmest months, June, July and August, the tem- perature ranges at 68.3 degrees, for the three winter months, December, January and February, the average temperature is 27.5 degrees. There are but few days in the year in which the ordinary work connected with the farm life cannot be carried on. There is a remarkable ab- sence of moisture in the atmosphere, and zero weather, of AND THE GUNNISON TtTNNEb 71 which there is a little sometimes, is not noticed. For healthful climate the valley ranks first in the United States. Pulmonary and asthmatic troubles find instant relief in the dry bracing atmosphere of southwestern Col- orado. EECEEATIONS. Opportunities for social and recreative diversion are abundant, and the scenery that constantly greets the eye A GOOD OATCn. is uplifting and inspiring. The lowly winding valley is shut in by massive, towering mountains that stand as silent sentinels, assuring protection and safety to all seek- ing rest and homes beneath their shadows. Beneath the 72 THE UNCOMPAHGRB VALLEY shades of their towering trees of spruce and pine may be found a great variety of game, from mountain grouse to bear and mountain lion. Venison is not an uncommon dainty to the inhabitants of the Uncompahgre Valley who desire to indulge in such bill of fare. The mountain brook- lets and streams are teeming with trout, which is the great- est table delicacy known to the epicurian. If one tires of the warm summer sunshine of the valley, a few hours drive with his team will place him in the silent recesses of the mountains where he can indulge to his heart's content tho sports and pleasures that are so dear to many. During the months of August and September camping parties are common, in which large numbers of the in- habitants of the valley seek recreation in the mountains. Family parties to the mountains afford delightful op- portunity to spend a few weeks away from care and toil at a cost not exceeding the daily expense of the home. HEAD 01? BLACK CAMYON. MONTEOSE IN 1882. CHAPTER IV GUNNISON TUNNEL PRELIMINARIES Great enterprises move slowly, and of times those benefits which are of the most practical service to mankind, and for which there is the most crying need, are the longest de- ferred. It is needless, perhaps, to state that the inhabi- tants of the Uncompahgre Valley have been educated in the school of hardship and self-denial. The country is comparatively new. The Continental Divide casts a separ- ating line between the valley and the thickly populated east. The great Utah desert stretches its parched plains far to the west, and the Uncompahgre Valley seems thrown in between as a sort of haven of rest for those who pasa within its borders. The Uncompahgre Valley contains the largest body of irrigable land in Colorado, lying west of Pueblo, and it has only awaited the magic influence of living streams to [75] 76 THE UNCOMPAHGRB VALLEY transform it into one of the richest and most fruitful sec- tions of the world. All kinds of fruits except those that are tropical in nature are grown, not in limited quantities, but in profuse abundance. Every vegetable that can be grown outside of the tropics flourishes in the Uncompahgre Valley. The Uncompahgre River generously surrendered its waters to be spread upon the lands, but the supply was soon exhausted, leaving great stretches of country un- touched by the shovel and plow. The ripple of the Gunnison River seemed to plead with the people of the valley to tap its inexhaustable treasure of liquid wealth, but the inhabitants of the land were slow to catch the inspiration of the great idea that a hole six miles long could be driven through a mountain chain, through which the crystal stream might be led and caused to distill its liquid treasure upon the parched acres that the valley contained. At last, a Frenchman, named Lauzon, who had learned the value of water, became convinced that it was not only possible to divert the Gunnison River, but that it was an intensely practical plan besides. In season and out of season, Lauzon talked Gunnison water, in the country school houses, and in the towns on the street corners, and in the highways and byways he pleaded with the people to arise and build. Many were ready to intimate that his mind was turned by constantly brooding upon the subject, but later developments have abundantly vindicated the man's idea and purpose, proving that he was an educator. AND THE GUNNISON TUNNEL 77 filling an appointed place. Posterity will honor the ser- vices rendered the Uncompahgre Valley by Mr. Lauzon. FIEST SUEVEYS. The citizens were at last sufficiently aroused to contri- bute a small sum for the purpose of making a preliminary m C ■'■% ^ '''^■'"j' mm^ ■ f -Ttll'iiilfrir" m^sms^ ,jta^^^jj^ pH 1 fe^ |Bj&''~^ *'%'- " ^in - • ^ 1 1 1 H H GOVEENMENT CAMP AT VALLEY POETAL OF GUNNISON TUNNEL. survey, and on the twenty-seventh day of August, 1904, Walter Fleming and Kichard Whinerah, civil engineers, were directed by the three counties of Ouray, Montrose and Delta to run level lines from the Uncompahgre Valley to the Gunnison River for the purpose of discovering, if possible, how much of the valley lands could be covered by water from the Gunnison. At this time the idea seemed to be that a ditch could be taken out from the canyon, and 78 THE UNCOMPAHGRB VALLEY that by means of pipes and flumes, the water could be carried over the hills and permitted to drop into the val- ley. The first survey proved the impracticability of that en- terprise, and while sitting around the camp fire during this first surveying expedition, Fleming and Whinerah fully decided that if the water from the Gunnison Kiver ever flowed into the Uncompahgre Valley it would have to be by means of a hole bored through the mountains. With this fact fastened upon them, they ran a level line from a point eight miles east of Montrose in a north- easterly direction direct to the Gunnison Canyon. They found that the water could be taken out sufficiently high to practically cover all the lands of the valley. The initiatory step was now taken, and the people were beginning to awaken to the fact that what they had at firfct scoffed at was a practical possibility, and that it was worth their while to arise and do something, if they ever hoped to see their valley take its rightful place among the productive centers of the west. LEGISLATIVE PEELIMIKAEIES. The Hon. Meade Hammond of the State Legislature labored untiringly for the Gunnison Tunnel. The first session after his election he was unable to accomplish any- thing for the great enterprise ; but he was re-elected and became a power in the legislative halls upon all questions cf state importance, and he succeeded in securing a state AND THE GUNNISON TUNNEL 79 appropriation of twenty-five thousand dollars with which to make preliminary surveys and begin work on the tun- nel, hoping by these steps to interest private capital in the enterprise. At this time the people did not dare to hope that it would be made a Government enterprise, and they continued to labor along the line of securing support from private capital, which, had they been successful, would have forever saddled upon' the people of the valley a burdep that would have been illy borne. However, in the meantime, the Hon. John C. Bell, representative in Congress for that District, labored with untiring zeal to interest the Reclamation Service in the project. He at last secured the appointment of a corps of engineers and field men for the purpose of making exhaustive investiga- tion relative to the enterprise, precursory to the taking on of the project by the Federal Government. In the meantime. Prof. Fellows had been appointed , IT. S. District Engineer, and he at once manifested an intense interest in the great enterprise, in fact this soon became the absorbing ambition of his life. To the carry- ing out of the project he- devoted all his energies, and his highest hope was to see the fertile lands of the valley moistened by the crystal waters of the Gunnison. It is difficult to place the credit for the first agitation bearing on this project upon any one person. Mr. Lauzon was, without doubt, the first man to publicly agitate it as a feasible irrigation project, but it seems that prior to 80 THE UNCOMPAHGRE VALLEY this time it had been investigated by the Denver & Rio (rrande railroad as a practical means of letting their road into the Uncompahgre Valley ■without having to climb the mountains. The San Juan mining district had also manifested an interest in the project from a power stand- point, it being regarded by some mining engineers as a practical plan for securing electrical pov^er to drive the machinery of that great mining district. Be that as it may, the purpose for vi^hich the tunnel was successfully agitated rested upon an irrigation basis, and upon this basis appeals were made to the state, and the assistance of the Government was solicited, which is but another proof of the great fact that back of all commerce stands the farmer as the migkty spoke in the great wheel of in- dustry, and his guarantee alone is sufficient to start the wheels of Government in any enterprise, it matters not how great. The Gunnison Tunnel and kindred projects are de- manded by the times. The whole Great East is filled to overflowing with congested population. Countless acres of fertile land now lie waiting the application of water to transform vast barren wastes into gardens, Edenic in their beauty and productiveness. The restrained thou- sands in our Eastern states are eagerly seeking some out- let for their overflow population ; there is no country so inviting as the homeland, and there is no place in the heme land that offers such inducements to homemakers as the great, unsettled west. And what can a great and AND THE GUNNISON TUNNEL 81 riagnanimous Government do but say to its loyal subjects, "We will bring within your reach the means by which you can transform a trackless empire into gardens of fruits and flowers." The machinery of Government has been put in motion, and in the states of Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, DIGGING CANAL WITH STEAM SHOVEL. Nevada, Idaho and Arizona the great work of reclaiming the vast arid territory is under way. Colorado was the first to receive benefit under this great movement, and the Uncompahgre Valley is the chosen place that will have opportunity to test the results of the first great irri- gation project. The preliminary steps necessary to any great under- taking are many, and oftentimes complicated. They were Uncompahqbe Vallet— 6 82 THE UNCOMPAHGRB VALLEY found to be so in the Gunnison Tunnel project. Ten years passed from the time the matter was first agitated, until the project was assured by the arrival of Government assistance. These ten years were marked by many inter- esting events, brought about by men who dared to sacri- fice and do in the interest of the gigantic project. The names of such men as Lauzon, Fleming, Whinerah, Ham- mond, Bell, Pelton, Torrence, Fellows, Tobin and Dodge can never be separated from the Gunnison Tunnel project. Scores of others stood nobly by the enterprise when it was weak and needed strengthening, but these men were the ones who dared lead out and risk something in behalf of the undertaking. One of the most daring adventures ever undertaken in behalf of an industrial enterprise was the exploration of Black Canyon of the Gunnison, for the purpose of giving to science and the world the particulars pertaining to the project that the boring of the Gunnison Tunnel involved. In the following chapter the story of the hazardous trip through the canyon is told. WHERE THE EIVEE DISAPPBAES IN BLACK CANTON. CHAPTER V THROUGH THE BLACK CANYON Much has been written about the Royal Gorge of the Arkansas, and the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River, but their towering walls shadow grandeur that must be seen to be appreciated, and their roaring cataracts chant music that must be heard to be understood. Science de- clared that a railroad was possible through the Royal Gorge, and now ribbons of steel are flecked by the foam of its raging waters throughout its entire length. Years ago daring men braved the gloomy fastness of the Grand Canyon of the Colorado and gave the world the secrets ifs mighty depths contained. In 1853 Captain Gunnison, a daring pathfinder and explorer of note, discovered the river that bears his name. He found its source in the south central part of Colorado, whence it sought its outlet in a northwesterly direction toward the sea. He followed [85] 86 THE UNCOMPAHGRE VALLEY its plunging waters down mountain side and thjough smiling valleys, past forests of stately spruce and pine, and broad meadows of waving grass, until he found it swallowed up in a recess so dark and forbidding that it was named the "Black Canyon," the yawning depths of which he did not care to explore, and so he veered to the left and sought an outlet through a less difficult country, to finally leave his bones with those of his companions to bleach upon the plains of Utah, victims to the cruel hate cf the savage redskins. In 1873 Prof. Hey den with a surveying party ap- proached and peered into the abysmal depths of the Black Canyon, and filed in his notes that it was inaccessible and passed on. Thirty years passed by, and none were found daring enough to attempt its exploration from the mere love of adventure; but at last in 1901 science and necessity de- manded that its depths be traced and their mysteries given to the world. To the west, running parallel with the canyon, lies the inviting valley of the Uncompahgre. The white man had found his way to this chosen place, and where once the Indian had hunted the antelope and deer, there were now under the process of development fertUe farms and de- lightful homes. The necessity of procuring a sufficient water supply for the purpose of irrigating the Uncom- pahgre Valley demanded that the seal that bound the mysteries of the Black Canyon be broken, and the nature TOP OE" TOBEENOE FALLS. AND THE GUNNISON TUNNEL 89 of its unknown fastness be made known to all. The voice of humanity was heard in earnest appeal for that most important essential, water, with which to irrigate the farms of the Uncompahgre Valley in order that families might be supplied with bread, and homes rendered peace- ful and happy that otherwise would not afford the most meager necessities of life. FIRST TEIP TI-IEOUGII THE BLACK CANYON. Where were the men to hear the call and take their lives in their hands by facing the perils of the Black Can- yon in the interest of that project which alone could afford relief to the drouth-stricken inhabitants of the val- ley? The only hope of securing a sufficient supply of moisture was in some diversion project by which the waters of the Gunnison Kiver could be applied to the fer- tile but waterless lands. At last five men were found who accepted the call and who decided to make the perilous attempt at exploring the shrouded caverns of the Black Canyon in the interest of that project which, if successfully accomplished, would be the means of transforming their valley into one of the most beautiful places on earth. J. E. Pelton, J. A. Cur- tis, M. F. Hovey, E. B. Anderson and W. W. Torrencc are the men, and to them the people of the Uncompahgre Valley, and the thousands who will yet locate within its •borders, owe a lasting debt of gratitude for that which they dared in their behalf. 90 THE UNCOMPAHGRE VALLEY The funds with which to equip such an expedition were zneagre, but they at last fitted out two boats and suf- ficient supplies for thirty days, and all arrangements be- ing completed, they started upon their perilous journey, entering the Canyon about one mile above Cimarron Station. It was arranged that men should be stationed along the brow of the canyon in order to watch the movements of the men below and report each day to their families, as all were men of family except Mr. Torrence. The second day in they lost one of the boats and half of their supplies while attempting to pass a waterfall. That night, ex- hausted by the constant and excessive battle with the torrent, they found rest in a cave, the depth of which they were unable to explore. They found it necessary to be much of the time in the water, and there was but little of the time, day or night, that their clothing was dry, or when they were free from that most unpleasant sensation that comes from having on water-soaked clothing. The canyon was deep and narrow, the water cold and icy, coming, as it does, from melting snow ; the walls were perpendicular; and the reverberation caused by the un- ceasing and mighty roar of the waters made hearing an impossibility, save when in actual contact of mouth and ear. Arrangements had been made to communicate with the tcp men each day, but five days passed before a single AND THE GUNNISON TUNNEL 91 evidence of their existence was re- vealed to the men stationed along the top. They w e r o given up as lost, and a messenger was sent to the lower end of the canyon to span the river .with wire-netting for the purpose of catching their bodies. But the fifth day, at a point where the canyon is fifteen hundred feet deep, and the walls are perpendicular, the top men espied them, and the glad news was borne in haste to their families and to the people in general that they were still alive. The grandeur of the scenes through which they passed has in a measure been brought to general view by the more than eighty views that Mr. Torrence secured while en this trip. The hardships they endured, while not so great as those endured by Mr. Fellows and Mr. Torrence at a later period, were sufficient to test sinews of iron and try nerves of steel. 92 THE UNCOMPAHGRE VALLEY At three different places they found natural bridges across the river, formed by immense rock slides, which had some time during the past ages fallen into the canyon, thus causing the water to force its way under the great mass of fallen stone. The needles shown in the illustra- tion on page 17 are sharp spires of solid granite two thous- and feet tall. As the party advanced, the canyon grew deeper and narrower, and the water more rapid and fierce, until the men became convinced that with their equipment they could proceed but little farther, so they began to watcli for a place to get out. The canyon was then twenty-three hundred feet deep, the walls straight up and down and very narrow. There were no shores or banks now on which to travel, and the entire party had to take to the water which was so deep anfi rapid that in many places it seemed as much as life was worth to get into it. After plunging through this narrow place, they came to where boulders as large as houses had fallen into the canyon, and the river disappeared altogether. Here they toiled hard and long, dragging their boat over these great obstacles, only to discover, when safely over, so great a difficulty before them that they were forced to abandon the expedi- tion, without having accomplished the object for which they had risked their lives in an attempt to establish the possibility of diverting the water of the Gunnison River to the lands of the Uncompahgre Valley. They were confronted by a canyon twenty-five hundred AND THE GUNNISON TUNNEL 95 feet deep, and only twenty-eight feet wide, with perpen- dicular walls, worn by the action of the water as smooth as glass, and language cannot describe the terrific force with which the restrained torrent found egress through the narrow outlet. Behind them pressed the raging torrent, Before them boiled its seething tides, Above them towered such walls of granite That wild goats could not scale their sides. Confronted by this mighty and desperate water sluice, the party realized that it would be folly to attempt to pro- ceed farther, and means of escape were sought for. On the right side of the canyon, looking down the stream, was a narrow opening, which, while appearing almost perpendicular, yet offered the only hope for getting out of the canyon, as it would be impossible to get back the way they had come. They named the narrow place the ''Falls of Sorrow," bade farewell to their tried and worn boat, and, having spent twenty-one days in traveling a distance of fourteen miles, they began their ascent out of the mighty depths of the Black Canyon at about eight o'clock in the morning. They toiled and climbed all day, night finding them far from the summit, with no place to stop for a period of rest. Not until half past nine that night did they at last stand on the summit, exhausted and almost famished from hunger. Their instrument revealed that in climbing the twenty-five hundred feet they had departed only six hun- 96 THE UNCOMPAHGRE VALLEY dred feet from the river, and they could stand upon the canyon's crest and toss a pebhle upon their deserted boat, twenty-five hundred feet below. After reaching the top they were obliged to walk fifteen miles before finding food. The party, intact in number, but depleted in avoir- dupois and equipment, at last reached Montrose, having traveled a distance of one hundred miles in a circuitous route, much of which had never been traversed by man. ADVENTURE OF FELLOWS AND TOEEENCE IN THE BLACK CANYON. While_the expedition did much to interest the public in the diversion of the Gunnison River, it was incomplete ia the fact that it failed to establish the feasibility of the undertaking from a scientific standpoint. It was left for Prof. A. L. Fellows of the U. S. Reclamation, Service and Mr. W. W. Torrence of Montrose to complete that which the former party had attempted. In August, when the weather was warm and the water would be at a higher temperature than at any other time, they prepared for their perilous undertaking. The equipment consisted of a rubber raft, rubber bags for kodak, etc., hunting knives and belts, and two silk life lines, six hundred feet long. Thus equipped they started into the canyon to accomplish by means of swimming that which the former party had tried by means of boats. Their experiences were similar to those of the former party until they reached the Falls of Sorrow, at which LOOKING FOE A PLACE TO GET OUT. UHOOKPAHaBE VALLET-^7 AND THE GUNNISON TUNNEL 9d place their most trying experiences began. As before stated, the open- ing at this place is only twenty-eight feet wide, through which the river goes plunging and tear- ing at a ter- rific speed, sending forth a roar like a thou- sand pieces of artillery. Through this narrow opening they could see the tops of trees below, the height of which they had no means of knowing, but it was plainly evident that the falls extended a considerable distance. They exhausted every resource in an attempt to get by the falls by climbing, but without success. They spent several hours in trying to slip through by hugging the walls, but the eddy of water would beat them against the rocks so hard that they found their strength waning, withoiit making an J progress in their eifort to get through. 100 THE UNCOMPAHGRB VALLEY TI-IEOUGH THE NAEEOWS. After several hours spent in deliberation, they decided that the only way was to plunge into the middle of the current and trust to their good fortune to take them through. It was a daring resolution, but the only way out of the difficulty. They had but faint assurance that they would get out alive, but casting their all upon that assur- ance, feeble though it was, they plunged into the mael- strom of water. Torrence saw Prof. Fellows caught by a mighty billow of water and hurled out of sight. As he disappeared from sight, Mr. Torrence shouted "Good bye," for he never expected to see him again. But Providence decreed other- wise, for after having been hammered and driven and plunged about for some minutes, they at last floated out into less turbulent water and dragged themselves, bruised, bleeding and exhausted, to a friendly boulder, upon which they sought to recover their spent strength. Having rested awhile, they again took up their journey. Provisions were gone, and they were beginning to feel the pangs of hunger. They could not get . out, neither could they go back ; they must go ,on, not knowing what was before them, nor what unexpected trials would at any time confront them. The question of how to satisfy the demands of hunger was rapidly becoming an important one, when quite unexpectedly they started a pair of mountain sheep. A HAED PLACE TO SWIM. AND THE GUNNISON TUNNEL 103 CATCHING A MOUNTAIN SHEEP. No animal that ranges the Kocky Mountains is so dif- ficult of approach as the mountain sheep. He seeks the most secluded places that can be found, and it is hut sel- dom that he permits himself to be seen by the sharpest eyed hunters. One of these went bounding away over the rocks and cliffs, where it was impossible for man to even get a footing, and the other ran in between two jutting rocks. Torrence ran to the opening, just as the animal made a plunge to get out, and it fairly leaped into his open arms. Then began a mighty struggle for the mas- tery. The wild sheep was between the two men and apparent starvation, and with all the strength of his un 104 THE UNCOMPAHGRB VALLEY tamed na- ture the des- perate ani- mal sought to escape. After a long str u g gl e, T r r enco succeeded in stabbing it to death, and they at once prepared a feast from a portion of the carcass. P e r h a p s never be- fore in the history of man's know- ledge of this animal had OAEETING SUPPLIES OVEE EAPIDS. AND THE GUNNISON TUNNEL 105 anyone succeeded in catching a full grown mountain sheep alive in his arms. UNDEE THE CAVE-IN. The next trying place was where the canyon had been obstructed by a vast deposit of huge boulders, under which the water has worn its way. The action of- the torrent had worn the hard blocks of granite until they had the appearance of resting upon pillars. The two explorers could find no way of getting over the obstruction, the deposit was piled so high, and the boulders were so large that they could find no footing by which to climb up. The canyon was two thousand feet deep at this point, no place could be found where they could climb out, and no human being could get back through the whirling torrent behind them. There was but one way out, and that was through the hidden archway with its foaming waters. They had no means of knowing the extent of the cave-in, nor how narrow were the openings through which the waters found an outlet ; they could peer in vain into its roaring depths, but could behold nothing but darkness ; they could hear nothing but the constant roar of the cataract. After spending a long time in deliberation, they at last decided to attempt to go with the boiling waters into the unknown depths of the foam-flecked cavern. Contact with constant peril had made the pair indifferent to their personal safety, and Fellows slid off the rock on which they were sitting, into the whirlpool of water beneath. Torrence 106 THE UNCOMPAHGRB VALLEY SHOOTING THE EAPIDS IN BLACK CANTON. saw him turned over as soon as he struck the water, and as he shot under the archway all that could be seen of him was one of his feet whirling around in the mad torrent. Again Torrence did not expect to ever meet him alive, and AND THE GUNNISON TUNNEL 107 for a long time sat there before he could decide to court what seemed to be the certain fate of his companion. At last, it being the only alternative that presented a single hope for life, he, too, plunged in, but profiting by the manner in which Fellows had gone under, he attempted to strike the water in a position to swim and in this way succeed in keeping on top of the water, and while the terrible force of the torrent shot him under the arch at a frightful pace he was afloat. He found the greatest danger in the waters dashing him against the jutting rocks, and thus rendering him unconscious. He finally got through, and crawling upon a rock he looked down stream and saw Prof. Fellows on another rock waiting for him to come out, at the same time regaining his strength. After "this experience they soon reached Eed Rock Canyon, where they found a man waiting for them. After a good rest they again plunged into the Canyon, but their hardest experiences were over and they soon emerged from the mouth of the famous Black Canyon, having traversed its entire length of thirty miles in a period of ten days, during which time they swam the river seventy-two times, and passed through experiences, out of which it seemed nothing short of miraculous that they emerged aUve. In all probability no one will ever again attempt its perilous passage. The purpose for which they made the hazardous journey is accom- plished. The great Gunnison Tunnel is assured. Under Government control, night and day is heard the chuck, 108 THE UNCOMPAHGRB VALLEY APTEB WE GOT OUT OF THE CANTON. chuck of the air drill as it drives bars of steel through the mountain ' of granite that separates the sparkling waters of the Grunnison from the productive lailds of the TJncompahgre Valley. SECTION OF COMPLETED CANAL. CHAPTER VI THE GUNNISON TUNNEL All preliminaries connected with the great Gunnison Tunnel project were carefully detailed and considered by the Government before any decisive action was taken upon the important undertaking. There were many important details to be worked out and determined before Govern- ment control could be assured. 1. The Government had to be assured, by means of thorough surveys, that the tunnel was a practical under- taking from an engineering standpoint, and that its cost would not exceed the value of the lands to be reclaimed. 2. The unanimous endorsement of the inhabitants of the valley had to be procured before the Government would consider the project at aU. [Ill] 112 THE UNCOMPAHGRB VALLEY 3. A reasonable guarantee was demanded from all land owners before practical operation would be under- taken. The arranging of these details required time and a prodigious amount of labor before matters could be ar- ranged to the absolute satisfaction of all concerned. Eepresentatives of the people in association with rep- resentatives of the Reclamation Service were successful, however, in establishing on a permanent basis the volum- inous detail connected with so large an enterprise, and on the fifth day of October, 1904, bids for the construction of the great bore were opened. At this writing (1905) the work is being vigorously pushed at both ends, and also, by means of a shaft, through which the work is being driven both ways. The tunnel is thus being worked from four breasts, by which means it is being pushed as rapidly as possible. The valley portal of the tunnel is located eight miles east of Montrose, near the little station of Cfedar Creek, a small shipping point on the Denver & Rio Grande rail- road. The tunnel enters the valley at an elevation of about 6000 feet. The river portal of the tunnel is reached by a magnificent roadway, twelve miles long, which was built by the G-overnment at a cost of sev- eral thousand dollars. This road was built for the pur- pose of conveying machinery and supplies for construc- tion at the river end of the great bore. AND THE GUNNISON TUNNEL 113 PEEPARATOKY ORGANIZATION FOR THE GUNNISON TUNNEL. "The Gunnison Tunnel cannot be discussed as the work of any one man, or one set of men. It is the result of a uqited effort, supported and made effective by a benefi- cent national act. "For the administration of the completed project, the officials of the Reclamation Service have directed the es- tablishment of the Uncompahgre Valley Water TJsers' Association. This Association is entrusted with the ad- justment of conflicting rights, and the return of the cost to the Reclamation fund. At the proper time, also, the Association will assume control of the entire irrigation project. "The task ahead is no small one for the officers, but they are going forward with energy, and will achieve complete success. The Association is directed at pres- ent by the following officers: J. H. Halley, president; John Tobin, vice-president ; Ira H. Monell, secretary ; W. O. Stephens, treasurer; John Lamb, E. L. Ross, O. M. Kem, Frank Donlavy, W. E. Obert, W. R. Welch and Frank Ross, directors." DESCRIPTION OF TUNNEL AND DITCH CONSTRUCTION. "The constructions involved in the Uncompahgre Val- ley project are the following : "First : — The Gunnison Tunnel, for the diversion of the Gunnison River through the separating ridge into the Un- compahgre Valley. The tuimel will be 30,600 feet in Unoompahgeb Vallbt^8 114 THE tTNCOMPAHGRE VALLEY length and 11x13 feet in cross section and will be lined with concrete from end to end. It will be provided with raassive headgates at the upper end to regulate the flow of water, and to prevent destruction during times of flood. STEAM SHOVEL EXCAVATING CANAL. The tunnel will cut the mountain at a depth of 2,100 feet, and the 1,300 cubic feet of water turned in at its head- gate will pass through it at a rate of ten and one-half feet per second of time. Some idea of its magnitude may be obtained from the fact that the project involves the re- moval of 5,212,600 cubic feet of shale and granite from the tunnel alone. Its cost with its accessory works is esti- mated at $1,200,000. O o in Oleittue, ColcDr-^cdLo. A general land brokerage business. The best land on the western slope of Colorado listed with us. Situated in the center of the fertile Uncom- pahgre Valley. Homeseekers Located without Charge. Correspondence solicited with eastern parties wishing homes on the lands to be irrigated by the great Gunnison Tunnel. Investments in first mortgage loans made for non-residents. special Rates Secured for Parties of Homeseelcers. For full information call on or address ^Ae nestern Land cF" Jnuestment Qompany, (Incorporated) OLATHE, . , . . COLO. THE UNION PACIFIC Was First To Cross the Plains to Denver And is Still First in Point of Service and Equipment Low Rates Jo Colorado During the Summer. Four Trains Daily between Missouri River and Denver. J. C. Ferguson, General Agent, Denver, , , , ^ Colorado. OLATHE THE HUB OF THE GUNNISON TUNNEL PROJECT Has large tracts of rich undeveloped land surrounding the town, which must be sold in tracts, not exceeding 160 acres, before the water from the Gunnison Tunnel will be allotted. For full information address the OLATHE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. Olathe, Colo. Write to W. 0. REDDING Montrose, Colo., for prices and general information pertaining to the lands in Mont- rose County, Colora- do, and the Uncom- pahgre Valley under the Gunnison Tunnel project. Descriptive Pamphlets Furnished. Immigration rates ob- tained. Fourteen years a resident of this val- ley and actively engaged in the REAL ES- TATE business during that time. References: The First National Bank, Montrose. The Montrose National Bank, Montrose. The Equitable Security Company, New York City. The Farm Investment Company, Greeley, Colo. All Letters Answered by Return Mail. i,-%/%/%/%/%/^/%^%,%^%/%%/p LOWEST RATES AND= SUPERIOR SERVICE From All Points East to Colorado FOR HOMESEEKERS VIA Free Reclining Chair Cars Tourist Sleepers Standard Pullman Sleepers All Trains Equipped with Electric Lights and Fans J. H. GINET. Jr. Denver, Colo. T. P. A.