Читать книгу Wealth of the World's Waste Places and Oceania - Jewett C. Gilson - Страница 11

Gila monsters LINK TO IMAGE

Among the animal life found on the desert are the wildcat, coyote, rabbit, deer, rat, tortoise, scorpion, centipede, tarantula, Gila monster, chuck-walla, desert rattlesnake, side-winder, humming-bird, eagle, quail, and road-runner. Wild horses and wild donkeys, or "burros," frequent these great wastes, cropping the vegetation that grows on the oases.

One of the most interesting of these animals is the desert-rat, whose habits, seemingly intelligent and equally curious, enable him to maintain a home amid surroundings most unfavorable to his survival. He is a big, active fellow of a glossy gray color, and since he always leaves something in place of whatever he may carry off, he is often called the trade rat. Night-time is his "busy day."

The house that he builds for himself is a veritable fortified castle built in up-to-date desert-rat style, under a protecting bush or rock, or beside a cactus—preferably a prickly pear. This stronghold, from four to five feet long and three feet high, is made of sticks interwoven with pieces of prickly cactus, thorny twigs, and odd bits in general—great care being taken to have most of the thorns project outward. His private quarters consist of a shallow hole burrowed under the centre of this thorn-woven pile. Access to the interior is gained by a winding passage.

The only enemy that might try to thread the mazy hallway is the rattler, who by an ingenious device is deterred from even making the attempt. To keep his snakeship from intruding on domestic privacy Mr. Rat takes several strips of spiny cactus and lays them flatways across the passageway leading to his retreat.

It is well known that a rattlesnake will not crawl over a prickly substance; hence a traveller when camping out at night in rattlesnake regions often surrounds his sleeping place with a horsehair rope as a safeguard against such an unwelcome intruder. Even the hungry, prowling coyote, who would make short work of the rat could he but get at him, fights shy of lacerating his paws by attempting to tear down the formidable pile.

The desert-rat has a morbid desire to carry to his home any small article which he may chance to find lying around, as many a desert miner has found to his discomfiture, but he always leaves something in its place, such as a strip of cactus or a stick.

For downright strategy no creature inhabiting the desert surpasses the road-runner, sometimes called the ground-cuckoo or snake-killer. Though omnivorous, this bird lives chiefly on reptiles and mollusks. It is decked in a gay plumage of coppery green, with streaks of white on the sides and a topknot of deep blue. In fleetness of foot it is said to equal the horse. Many stories are told of its surrounding a coiled sleeping rattlesnake with strips of cactus and then tantalizing its victim until, baffled in every attempt to get away, the snake finally inflicts a deadly bite on itself. Then the road-runner leisurely proceeds to devour the suicide.

The characteristic plants of these deserts are sage, mesquite, greasewood, and a great variety of cacti. Of the cactus family, the most conspicuous is the saguaro, or giant cactus, which frequently attains the height of fifty feet. All the cacti are leafless and abundantly supplied with sharp, needle-like spines which protect them from herbivorous animals. The bark or outer covering has a firm, close texture that prevents the sap from evaporating during the long, dry season. In traversing the deserts during May and June, one is amazed at the display of beautiful blossoms of white, yellow, purple, pink, and scarlet issuing from their thorny stalks.

The plant most welcome to the thirsty traveller, and which has saved the lives of many a wandering prospector, is the "well of the desert," a barrel-shaped cactus thickly studded with sharp spines. When one cuts out the centre of the plant in a bowl-like form, the cavity soon fills up with a watery liquid that is most refreshing.

A giant cactus in Arizona LINK TO IMAGE

Hot and forbidding as are these terrible wastes, they are the dwelling places of several tribes of Indians. The desert cactus furnishes them a large part of their food, and the fibre is woven into cloth to provide them with clothing. These Indians have been acclimated to the desert for centuries and are well versed in all of its moods and mysteries. They know of no better abode; neither can they be induced to leave it for a more congenial climate and fertile soil. Travellers and prospectors have told many stories about their experiences in these deserts. But perhaps no story has possessed a greater fascination than that of the lost Pegleg Mine.

The story of this lost mine has been told and retold with many variations for the past seventy years, and more than a score of persons have lost their lives in attempting to rediscover it. In 1836, according to the traditional story, a man named Smith, distinguished from the rest of the Smith family by the possession of a wooden leg, was journeying with several companions from Yuma over the Colorado desert. On account of his wooden stump he was dubbed "Pegleg" by his fellow-travellers.

After having been out several days and not finding any springs or water holes, the prospectors became greatly alarmed and hastened toward three small buttes which they saw standing out in the desert, in the hope of finding water in the dry wash leading from their bases. On arriving at the foot of the hills they were sadly disappointed; diligent search revealed no signs of water. He of the wooden leg climbed to the top of one of the buttes to get a better view of the country, and to the northward saw a high mountain; but before descending, he observed some black stones under his feet and on picking one up found it heavy and filled with a brassy-colored metal. He then picked up several of the stones and put them into his pockets, but being desirous of reaching water as soon as possible, he gave little thought to his find.

He told his companions of the mountain seen to the north and advised all possible haste to reach it, saying that he believed that they would there find water. The next day at nightfall they succeeded in reaching the base of the mountain in an exhausted condition and found a spring of cool, clear water. They were thus barely saved from a lingering death by thirst. The mountain was named Smith Mountain.

At San Bernardino, Smith showed his ore to an expert, who pronounced it nearly pure gold. The real importance of the discovery did not seem to dawn on the one-legged man, however, until thirteen years afterward; then, in 1849, it was heralded to the world that wonderful discoveries of gold had been made in several parts of California and that a man could dig out of the ground a fortune in a few days or weeks. Smith became enthusiastic and organized an expedition in San Francisco to seek for his desert mine where gold could be had for the picking up.

The expedition started out from Los Angeles. One night, just before reaching Smith Mountain, the Indians who had been taken along to pack the supplies secretly decamped with the provisions, thus compelling the prospectors to return as speedily as possible to save their lives. Smith felt discouraged and left the company at San Bernardino. Whether he perished in again trying to find his mine or left the country is not known. At any rate, he was never heard of afterward.

In 1860 a man named McGuire deposited in one of the San Francisco banks several thousand dollars in gold nuggets which he said he obtained near Smith Mountain. He organized a party of six to hunt for the Pegleg Mine. What they found, however, will never be known, for they all perished, and their bleached bones were found on the desert a long time afterward. They were not alone in disaster, however, for very many others in trying to find the legacy of Smith have met the same fate.

But the hidden wealth of this great region, so long known as the "Great American Desert," is by no means confined to its storehouses of gold, silver, and copper. Here, there, and almost everywhere are areas that lack but one element to make them the most productive regions of the world, and that one element is water.

The conquest of the Colorado desert is not the first instance of desert land reclamation in the United States, but it is certainly one of the marvels of the world's history. A more pronounced and inhospitable desert never existed; and, in proportion to the area reclaimed, it is doubtful if one can find greater productivity than the lands that constitute Imperial Valley. Let us take a glance at nature's work in this region.

Long before the Mississippi was born the Colorado was an ancient river and it formerly flowed through a fertile valley. During countless ages it has stripped from the plateau and carried into the Gulf of California a deposit of rock waste from the land surface of its basin many feet deep, and abraded billions of tons of material from its channel. All this silt and detritus have served to fill up the northern part of the gulf, the result of the deposit being an immense land area. At length a great bar was formed across the northern part of the gulf, making a sort of inland sea. Then the hot climate caused the water to evaporate, while from time to time the Colorado overflowed its banks, spreading a rich sediment over the former sea-bed.

Various parts of this depression, which, like Palestine, lie below the sea-level, are known as Salton, Coahuilla, and Imperial Valleys. The lowest part, now filled with water, is usually called the Salton Sea. The whole of this region is comprehended under the name of Colorado Desert. In 1900 a company was formed to reclaim that part of the desert included in Imperial Valley, by taking water out of the Colorado River a few miles below the boundary between California and Mexico.

A main canal, called the Imperial Canal, one hundred miles long, seventy feet wide, and eight feet deep carries water from the Colorado to Imperial Valley, where it is distributed by hundreds of smaller canals. The irrigation facilities are already sufficient to water more than one hundred thousand acres.

This region, rightly named the hot-house of America, produces marvellous crops of hay, grain, and fruits; it is an ideal place for raising live-stock and poultry as well. Some of this land already brings into its owners from three hundred dollars to seven hundred dollars yearly income per acre, and because of its wonderful fertility it is likened to the valley of the Nile.

In 1904 the Imperial Canal was filled with silt for some distance, thus preventing the flow of the proper amount of water needed for irrigation. To remedy the defect a temporary canal was cut around the head-gate. This expedient had been tried and then the gap had been closed up before high water. At this particular time high water came earlier than usual, and a great flood tore out the channel of the temporary canal to such an extent that before it could be prevented the whole Colorado River was flowing through the breach, leaving its own bed perfectly dry to the Gulf of California, filling up the Salton Valley, burying up the Salton salt-works, and making an inland sea such as formerly existed there. After most strenuous efforts, and at the enormous expense of upward of a million dollars, the gap was at length repaired and the Colorado made to flow in its own bed.

One should remember that in the development of these deserts the prospector owes a deep debt of gratitude to that patient, faithful little beast, the donkey, or "burro," as it is commonly known; without the service of this animal many a man would have suffered a lingering death. As a matter of fact, it is unsafe to venture far out into the desert unaccompanied by this oft-maligned creature—about the only animal fitted to carry supplies.

_Built by the U. S. Reclamation Service_ The Roosevelt Dam, Arizona, showing south bridge and spillway LINK TO IMAGE

But the use of dams and canals to conserve and supply water for irrigation prevailed even in most ancient times. Extensive irrigation works were built in Egypt three thousand years ago, and in India, China, Persia, and the countries bordering on the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers irrigation dates back centuries before the Christian era.

The Romans introduced irrigation into southern Europe. When Pizarro conquered the empire of the Incas he found the people possessed of wonderful systems for irrigation. Likewise, Cortez found the Aztecs making extensive canals. Remains of great irrigation works are found to-day in Arizona and New Mexico, where our modern engineers wisely adopt the canal routes which were established by a race now extinct.

At the present time India is irrigating twenty-five million acres of land, the United States thirteen million, Egypt seven million, and Italy three million. It is estimated that the United States has left one hundred and eighty million acres of arid and semi-arid land available for reclamation and four times as much that is incapable of being reclaimed.

No other question of to-day is of such vital and far-reaching importance as that of the reclamation of the millions of acres of sleeping arid lands in the western part of our country. Mines may be exhausted, forests slain, and cities annihilated, but wastes made fruitful through the potency of water will remain everlasting sources of wealth to the nation.

During the last few years our government has been very active in promoting irrigation by building impounding dams and constructing canals and tunnels for the delivery of water. In connection with the various irrigation works the government has already established five hydro-electric plants which furnish water, motive power, and light as may be required. From the big Roosevelt Dam and the drops of the level in the canal connected therewith, twenty-six thousand horse-power will be developed incidental to the reclamation of two hundred thousand acres of land.

The miracle-working agent, water, has already reclaimed thirteen million acres of our domain, and these areas now produce two hundred and sixty million dollars annually; moreover, they furnish homes to more than three hundred thousand people. Prosperous rural communities with thousands of happy, rosy-cheeked children, blooming orchards, broad, fertile fields prolific beyond comparison, and flourishing cities replace wastes of sand and sage-brush.

The United States Government alone has spent already sixty millions of dollars under the Reclamation Act which went into effect in 1902, and the end is not yet, for as the vista of human achievements in this line broadens still greater works will be inaugurated and successfully consummated. In Arizona, California, Colorado, South Dakota, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming the United States Government already is working on or has completed twenty-six important irrigation projects.

The most wonderful work combining the highest engineering skill and daring is found in the western part of Colorado, where from Black Canyon, an almost inaccessible gorge three thousand feet deep, the whole Gunnison River has been diverted to the Uncompahgre Valley. To take the water out of the river it was necessary to bore a tunnel six miles long through a mountain from the canyon to the valley.

To determine the feasibility of diverting the course of the river, it was first necessary to make an exploration of the canyon. No one before had ever had the hardihood to even make the attempt, on account of the extreme danger of a journey between the narrow black walls of this gloomy abyss.

In 1853 Captain Gunnison discovered the river which bears his name. He traced its course to where it plunged into a chasm so deep and dangerous that he feared to follow it farther and named the gorge Black Canyon. Some twenty years later Professor Hayden of the United States Geological Survey, looking over the brink of the abyss, declared it inaccessible.

The State of Colorado, desiring to find some way of utilizing the waters of the Gunnison River for irrigating the arid land adjacent, in 1900 called for volunteers to explore the canyon. Five men responded.

Provided with boats, life-lines, and other accessories, the men started from Cimarron on their perilous trip. On the third day their provisions gave out, and later they were obliged to abandon their boats and nearly everything else except their blankets, which were protected in rubber bags. They knew it was impossible to retrace their steps and that their only salvation lay in going on. At night they rolled themselves up in their blankets and tried to encourage one another. They travelled fourteen miles between granite walls from two thousand to three thousand feet high; and for sixteen days they were almost without food. Then they came to a cleft in their prison walls which seemed to offer a means of escape.

At their feet the water plunged over a precipice down to an unknown depth. To go on meant almost instant death. They were dying of starvation. Should they go on? They had not accomplished their task. Life was sweet and there were loved ones dependent upon them for support.

So they decided to attempt escape while they had strength. Wearily they climbed the steep and rugged path that led them to freedom. Starting early in the morning, they reached the summit, two thousand five hundred feet above the raging torrent, at nine o'clock at night. They were ready to drop in their tracks, yet hope inspired them to renewed exertions. They struggled on fifteen miles more ere they staggered into a farm-house on the verge of collapse.

In the following year, 1901, the United States Government, becoming interested in diverting the waters of the Gunnison, sent out one of its engineers, Professor Fellows, to look into the practicability of the project. After looking over the field, the government engineer succeeded in enlisting in his service Mr. Torrence, who was a member of the first expedition. They planned to accomplish the feat which the former explorers failed to accomplish, namely, to go entirely through Black Canyon.

Profiting by the previous trip, they provided for themselves a complete equipment, consisting of a rubber raft, two long life-lines, rubber bags for food and clothing, a camera, hunting-knives, and belts. Until they reached the water-falls where the previous expedition had left the canyon, the "Fall of Sorrow," the first part of their trip possesses little of interest beyond what had been experienced before. But from this point on unknown dangers menaced them.

The roar of the plunging water from below rose upward with a deafening sound as they gazed into the seething current. The rising mists obscured the tree tops on either side far below. Should they press on or retreat, as those before them had done? Yes, they must go forward whatever the hazard. They clasped hands, bidding each other good-by. Torrence threw himself into the water first and Fellows followed. A few seconds later both clambered upon a bowlder in the pool below. The narrow cleft by which the former company effected their escape was passed and no alternative but to go forward was left to them.

They encountered many other perilous adventures in their thirty-mile trip. Before they escaped from the canyon their provisions gave out. Death by starvation stared them in the face once more. Weakened by hunger and about to give up, they spied at the base of a cliff two mountain sheep.

Now, mountain sheep, which roam among the rugged crags, are exceedingly difficult to catch. One of the sheep darted into a cleft. With a quick movement born of desperation Torrence rushed before the opening, but scarcely had he reached the spot before the frightened sheep, in attempting to escape, jumped into his arms.

Realizing that his life and that of his companion depended upon securing the animal, he succeeded in killing it with his knife after a fierce struggle. The meat obtained saved their lives and sustained them until they reached a ranch fourteen miles from the place from which they emerged from the end of the canyon. In making the perilous journey they had swum across the river seventy-four times.

Although their instruments and most of the other articles which they had taken were lost, yet the valuable data, sought for and recorded in the engineering book, were safely brought out and contained enough encouraging information to lead the government to take up the project of diverting the waters of the Gunnison River to the Uncompahgre Valley.

Salt River Valley, one of the most fertile sections of Arizona, has been settled for many years, but the lack of a sufficient supply of water for extended irrigation has caused a large portion of this rich desert land to remain dormant. To meet the demand for more water in this valley the United States Government has just completed one of the greatest water impounding reservoirs in the world, the construction of which called for the greatest engineering skill and cost nearly nine million dollars.

Salt River enters the valley after a tumultuous passage through a deep and rugged canyon forty miles long. It derives its name from the saltness of its waters, which results from the discharge of salt springs into the main stream as it courses through the gorge.

Though unsuited for drinking purposes the water does not contain enough salt to make it detrimental for irrigation, and the soil, stimulated by the water, produces marvellous crops. Here extensive farming can be carried on with the greatest success. Six crops of alfalfa, averaging eight tons per acre, are harvested yearly. The oranges, dates, figs, lemons, grape fruit, olives, and peaches grown upon these lands are of superior quality and flavor and yield abundantly. The climate during eight months of the year is unsurpassed.

Ostrich farming here is becoming an important industry. There are at the present time in the valley about eight thousand birds, and the number is rapidly increasing. The value of the feathers plucked yearly from each full-grown bird is from thirty dollars to forty dollars. Indications are that in the near future Arizona will lead the world in ostrich farming and the production of ostrich feathers.

The history of this remarkable reservoir is full of human and natural interest. It is located in a land whose civilization was old when Rome was founded, a land of lost races, perpetual sunshine, forbidding deserts, and picturesque wonders. Strange vegetation and scenes that are novel are reflected in soft, changing tints from plain and mountain. From dawn to dark they possess an indescribable charm.

The government engineers, in looking over the ground, found an ideal spot for a reservoir formed by two valleys hedged in among the mountains at the head of the canyon. It was necessary only to build a dam across the narrow cleft where the river enters the gorge in order to impound the water.

The place being practically inaccessible, much preliminary work had to be done before commencing construction on the dam. A road forty miles long was made through the rugged mountains by which to transport provisions, machinery, and other supplies. A greater part of the road was cut out of the solid rock; other portions were constructed of masonry. At places on this wonderful highway, a stone dropped over the edge of the road will fall almost a thousand feet without stopping. The scenery along the whole route is both beautiful and awe-inspiring.

The question of supplying cement for constructing the dam was for a while a difficult one; the price asked by the manufacturers was nine dollars per barrel delivered. The engineer then summoned to his aid the government geologists, and they discovered near at hand limestone rock suitable for making good cement. But in order to convert the limestone into cement, it was necessary to have a mill and motive power to run it. Coal mines were five hundred miles away and such fuel would be too costly. The engineer said, "Why not use as a power electricity generated by the river itself?"

Accordingly a canal extending twenty miles up the river was constructed; with a two-hundred-and-twenty-foot drop it was capable of delivering water enough to generate four thousand two hundred horse-power. A mill was built and an electric plant installed which ran the mill and machine shops besides furnishing power for laying the heavy stones, lighting the works and town, and leaving a large surplus amount for pumping water from numerous wells in the Salt River Valley fifty miles away. By the economy of self-manufacturing, the cost of the cement to the government was but two dollars per barrel, thereby making a saving of nearly half a million dollars.

Shoshone Project, Wyoming Shoshone Canyon, looking upstream toward the dam. Dam, 328.4 feet high; storage capacity, 456,000 acre-feet LINK TO IMAGE

To provide proper accommodations for all of the employees and their families, a regular town was built on the floor of the reservoir, to be submerged when the works should be completed and the flood gates closed. The town, which was christened Roosevelt, contained a population of upward of two thousand, and bore the reputation of being the best behaved in all Arizona.

The dam, also named after Colonel Roosevelt, then President of the United States, floods two valleys, one twelve and the other fifteen miles long and each from one to three miles wide. The reservoir is nearly two hundred feet deep on the average. It is two hundred and eighty feet high, and the thickness of the dam ranges from one hundred and seventy-five feet at the bottom to twenty feet at the top, where its length is one thousand and eighty feet. Massive iron gates weighing sixty thousand pounds guard the outlet of the flood. To do the preliminary work and construct the dam nearly eight years were required, and during a part of this time a thousand men were employed both night and day, several hundred of whom were Apache Indians.

This region was previously the haunt of Chief Geronimo and his murderous band of Apaches. Near by are two groups of cliff dwellings formerly occupied by a race now extinct.

The capacity of this immense reservoir exceeds that of the Nile pent up by the Assouan dam, and the water would be sufficient to fill a canal two hundred feet wide and twenty feet deep, extending entirely across the United States from the Atlantic to the Pacific. When full there is sufficient water to submerge the city of Washington to the depth of thirty-four feet.

Among the other many important irrigation works may be mentioned the Shoshone and Rio Grande Dams. The Shoshone Dam in Wyoming impounds sufficient water to irrigate one hundred and fifty thousand acres in the valley below. This dam was completed January 10, 1910, and is the highest in the world, its height being three hundred and eighty-four feet. Twelve miles below the dam proper a diversion dam was built across the river which turns the stream into a tunnel connected at the other end with a canal, which delivers water upon one hundred thousand acres of fertile land.

The Rio Grande Dam involving the construction of a storage dam opposite Eagle, New Mexico, across the Rio Grande River will irrigate one hundred and eighty thousand acres of land in New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico.