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Redway's Geographical Readers
WEALTH OF THE WORLD'S WASTE PLACES AND OCEANIA
by
JEWETT C. GILSON
Former Superintendent of Schools, Oakland, California
Illustrated
[Illustration: From the National Geographic Magazine, copyright 1911:
The great Rainbow natural bridge of southern Utah]
Charles Scribner's Sons
New York 1913
Copyright, 1913,
by Jewett C. Gilson
PREFACE
Although the term "Waste Places" carries an implied meaning of
"worthless," yet, interpreted in the light of Nature's methods, each
region described, useless as it may apparently seem, possesses a
definite relation to the rest of the world, and therefore to the
well-being of man. The Sahara is the track of the winds whose moisture
fertilizes the flood-plains of the Nile. The Himalaya Mountains condense
the rain that gives life to India. From the inhospitable polar regions
come the winds and currents that temper the heat of the tropics.
Nature has secreted many of her most useful treasures in most forbidding
places. The nitrates which fertilize so much of Europe are drawn from
the fiercest of South American deserts, and the gold which measures
American commerce is mined in the arctic wilds of Alaska or in the
almost inaccessible scarps of the western highlands. The description of
these regions and the portrayal of their relation to the rest of the
world is the purpose of Part I of this book.
Part II of the book deals with Oceania--more especially with our island
possessions in the Pacific Ocean. It presents the salient features of
the ocean grand division in the light of most recent knowledge.
The author wishes to give credit to Mr. Jacques W. Redway, F.R.G.S., for
suggesting the subject of Part I and for the inspiration he received
from the distinguished geographer in developing the subject.
J. C. G.
Oakland, California,
December 25, 1912.
CONTENTS
PART I--WEALTH OF THE WORLD'S WASTE PLACES
PAGE
INTRODUCTION 1
CHAPTER
I. THE WEALTH OF THE ARID SOUTHWEST 4
II. THE GRAND CANYON OF THE COLORADO 27
III. YELLOWSTONE PARK 35
IV. TWO PREHISTORIC CEMETERIES--GIANT REPTILES
AND GIANT TREES 51
V. DEATH VALLEY 58
VI. THE MINERAL WEALTH OF THE ANDES 67
VII. THE CZAR'S GREATER DOMAIN 82
VIII. THE MYSTIC HIGHLANDS OF ASIA 97
IX. THE PRIMAL HOME OF THE SARACEN 105
X. THE SAHARA 115
XI. POLAR REGIONS--THE CONQUEST OF THE ARCTIC 128
XII. POLAR REGIONS--ANTARCTICA 147
XIII. ICELAND, THE MAID OF THE NORTH 160
XIV. GREENLAND 170
XV. WHERE THE TWO GREAT OCEANS MEET 175
XVI. RECLAIMABLE SWAMP REGIONS 183
XVII. STRANGE ROCK FORMATIONS--NATURAL BRIDGES 190
XVIII. STRANGE ROCK FORMATIONS--TABLE MOUNTAIN OF CALIFORNIA 195
XIX. STRANGE ROCK FORMATIONS--GIBRALTAR 199
XX. THE BAKU OIL FIELDS 206
XXI. THE SOUTH AFRICAN DIAMOND FIELDS 211
PART II--OCEANIA
XXII. THE ISLANDS OF THE PACIFIC 226
XXIII. AUSTRALIA 233
XXIV. THE GREAT BARRIER REEF 244
XXV. THE GOLD FIELDS OF AUSTRALIA 250
XXVI. TASMANIA 258
XXVII. NEW ZEALAND 262
XXVIII. SAMOA AND FIJI 270
XXIX. THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 277
XXX. GUAM 285
XXXI. THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 289
XXXII. THE DUTCH EAST INDIES--JAVA 301
XXXIII. THE DUTCH EAST INDIES--SUMATRA AND CELEBES 311
XXXIV. BORNEO AND PAPUA 319
ILLUSTRATIONS
The great Rainbow natural bridge of southern Utah Frontispiece
PAGE
Map of Islands of the Pacific Facing 1
Mohave Desert, California. Buzzards' Roost 6
Gila monsters 9
A giant cactus in Arizona 12
The Roosevelt Dam, Arizona, showing south bridge and spillway 17
Shoshone Project, Wyoming 25
The Grand Canyon of the Colorado 29
Grand View Trail 33
The Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, looking down canyon
from Grand Point 37
The Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Mammoth Hot Springs,
Summit Pools 45
The Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Beehive Geyser 47
The Brontosaurus 53
The Allosaurus 55
Twenty-mule borax team 61
The Oroya Railroad, Peru, showing four sections of the road 73
Llamas resting 77
Silver-smelting works at Cassapalca, on the Oroya Railroad, Peru,
13,600 feet high 79
Fishing for sturgeon through the ice of the Ural River. Catching the
material for caviare 83
Gathering salt at the mouth of the Ural River 87
Driving over the tundra in winter 91
Train on the steppes of Russia 95
Dunkar Spiti, Himalaya Mountains, India 99
Khaibar Pass, the gateway to India 107
On the sands of the desert 117
The yak not only serves as a beast of burden, but furnishes milk,
butter, and meat 103
A group of Arabs with their dromedaries 111
A caravan crossing the desert on the road to Jaffa 125
Peary's ship, the _Roosevelt_ 137
Commander Robert E. Peary and three of his Eskimo dogs on the
_Roosevelt_ 141
Musk ox 144
An antarctic summer scene 149
The penguin defies the cold 153
Street in Reykjavik, Iceland 163
North Cape, Iceland 167
Stone igloos on the bleak coast of Greenland 171
A large iceberg 173
A group of Eskimos in south Greenland 174
The Straits of Magellan. Cape Pilar is the extreme western end 177
Fuegians 179
The Everglades of Florida 184
Group of Seminole Indians in the Everglades of Florida 187
The Devil's Slide, Weber Canyon, Utah 191
Witch Rocks, near Echo Canyon, Utah 193
This strong and impregnable place is the Rock of Gibraltar, and the
city nestling at its base, Gibraltar 201
Landing-place for commerce on the Caspian Sea 209
Open workings of the diamond mine, Kimberley 219
Sorting gravel for diamonds in the Kimberley mine 223
A Malay girl 229
A Malay boy 231
A giant fig-tree, 140 feet in circumference 235
A mother kangaroo with a young kangaroo in her pocket 237
An Australian emeu 239
Homestead and station in Young district, Australia 243
The Great Barrier Reef of Australia, the most remarkable animal
structure in the world 247
Melbourne is the largest city of Australia and contains nearly half a
million people 257
Maori pa, or village 263
The Petrifying Geyser, New Zealand 265
Native canoe, Fiji Islands 275
General view of Volcano House, Kilauea, Hawaii 279
A lake of white-hot molten lava. The volcano of Mauna-Loa, Hawaii 281
Native ploughing in rice-field, Guam. One may find rice-farms as
skilfully cultivated as those of Japan or China 287
The carabao, harnessed to a dray or wagon, shuffles along 291
The harbor of the city. Scene on the Pasig River, Manila 295
Extracting indigo in Ilocos Province, Philippine Islands 297
Manila hemp as it is brought in from the country 299
A breadfruit tree in Java 303
Coffee-drying in Java 309
Natives in the jungle, Sumatra 313
A jungle, scene in Sumatra 316
WEALTH OF THE WORLD'S WASTE PLACES AND OCEANIA
[Illustration: Islands of the Pacific.]
PART I
WEALTH OF THE WORLD'S WASTE PLACES
INTRODUCTION
There is a great wealth of literature about what we call the world's
productive lands--that is, the densely peopled lands that yield grain,
meat, sugar, fruit, and all the various foodstuffs. In any well-equipped
library we may find great numbers of useful books that will tell us all
about the places where cotton, wool, and silk are grown, or where coal
and iron are mined. All these lands are the dwelling places of many
people. Networks of railways connect the various cities and villages,
and probably a majority of the people living in them have travelled in
and about much of the area of these lands.
A large part of the earth's surface is commonly called "unproductive."
As a rule this is only another way of saying that such parts of the
world produce little foodstuffs. We must not take the word
"unproductive" either too literally or too seriously, however, for Dame
Nature has a way of secreting some of her choice treasures in places so
forbidding and so desolate that only the most resolute and daring men
even search for them. For instance, the mineral once much used by the
makers of carbonated or "soda" water comes from a part of Greenland that
is so bleak, cold, and inhospitable that no human beings can long exist
there unless food and fuel are brought them from afar off. The famous
"nitrates" of Chile are obtained in the fiercest part of the Andean
desert. Not only the food but the water consumed must be carried to the
miners, who are but little better than slaves. Most of the gold and
silver is obtained in regions that are unfit for human habitation. The
largest diamond fields in the world are in a region that will not
produce even grass without irrigation--a region that would not be
inhabited were there no diamonds. From the most inhospitable highlands
of Asia comes a very considerable part of the precious mineral, jade.
Death Valley, in the southern part of the United States, on account of
its terrific heat, is perhaps the most unhabitable region in the world,
but the borax which it produces is used in every civilized country. And
so we might name regions by the score that are practically unhabitable,
which nevertheless produce things necessary to civilized man.
We call them "waste places," but this is far from true. For the greater
part they are quite as necessary as the places we call fertile. Of
foodstuffs, for instance, the greater part of the Rocky Mountain
highland produces not much more than the State of New York. Yet the
presence of this great mountain wall diverts the moist warm air from the
Gulf of Mexico northward, making the Mississippi basin one of the
foremost granaries of the world. The absence of rain in the west slope
of the Peruvian Andes makes much of the western part of Chile and Peru a
desert. But that same absence of rain makes the nitrate beds possible;
for had there been yearly rains, the nitrates long since would have been
leached out. So, the lands the nitrates now fertilize are far greater in
area than that of the region of the nitrates.
Then, perhaps, we turn our eyes oceanward. What! wealth in these great
wastes? Most certainly, and indispensable wealth at that. Let us forget
for a moment that the oceans produce about as much meatstuffs as the
land; this is really the least important feature about them. The oceans
produce one thing that is absolutely necessary for every living thing
almost every hour of the day, and that is fresh water. Every drop of
fresh water that falls on the land is born of the ocean. Even the cold,
polar oceans are indispensable to life, for their waters are constantly
flowing out into the warmer oceans, thereby tempering the water of the
latter and preventing it from being too warm for living things.
Thus we see that, after all, Dame Nature is not very unkind to her
subjects. Compensation is her great law; if her supplies are "short" in
one direction they are "long" in another. And when we take the broader
view we must conclude that there are no waste places. It is only when we
take the extreme and narrow view that we voice the persiflage of the
poet Pope:
"While man exclaims: 'See all things for my use'--
'See man for mine,' replies a pampered goose."
Now, these waste places are of various kinds and in pretty nearly every
locality. Some are deserts pure and simple; some are very dry and, to
avoid hurting our national feelings, we politely refer to them as "arid
regions"; some are so rugged and inaccessible that nothing short of
dirigible balloons and aeroplanes could open a general communication
with them; still others are in polar regions and too bleak and desolate
to produce foodstuffs or support human life. The purpose of these
chapters is to present the characteristics of these waste places. Most
of them have been conquered by man, and their resources have been opened
wide to the world. Possibly others yet remain to be conquered, but "what
man has done, man can do."
CHAPTER I
THE WEALTH OF THE ARID SOUTHWEST
Years ago the maps of the United States depicted a vast region west of
the Missouri River stippled with dots, which were supposed to imitate
sand, and marked with the portentous legend, "Great American Desert." As
sturdy pioneers pushed their settlements farther and farther westward,
the great American desert began to shrink in size until the roseate
descriptions of prospectors and land speculators led one to believe that
this whole region needed only a touch of the plough and the harrow to
produce the most bountiful crops grown anywhere in the world.
Nevertheless, the great domain extending from the
twenty-five-hundred-foot level to the crest of the Sierra Nevada
Mountains is a region so deficient in rainfall that, for the greater
part, ordinary foodstuffs will not grow without irrigation; so farming
must be confined mainly to the flood-plains of the rivers. Here and
there considerable areas have been made fertile by capturing rivers,
damming their streams so as to create great reservoirs, and then
measuring out the waters to the farm lands below. The Salt River dam in
Arizona, recently completed, will supply water to two thousand square
miles, or about twenty-five thousand fifty-acre farms.
But in spite of all that man has done and can do to make this region
fruitful, not far from half a million square miles will ever remain
barren so far as the production of foodstuffs is concerned. Now this
whole region, irrigated lands included, does not produce more wealth
than the State of New York alone--possibly it does not produce so much.
Indirectly, however, it is worth more than two thousand million dollars
yearly to the rest of the United States; for it is a great highland
whose rims, the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountain ranges, are about
two miles high. Now, these lofty ranges wring almost every drop of
moisture from the rain-bearing winds of the Pacific Ocean, leaving them
too dry to shed any moisture over the eastern half of the United States.
Because of this great mountain barrier, the winds that bring rain and
bountiful crops to the Mississippi Valley and the Atlantic slope, follow
an easier passage, flowing directly from the Gulf of Mexico and the
Caribbean Sea. And the copious rains are the chief wealth of this
midland region.
But the arid western highland possesses a great wealth of its own--a
wealth whose influence is world-wide, for it is one of the world's chief
storehouses of gold, silver, and copper. Gold and silver are the mediums
of commercial transactions, and copper is the chief medium for the
transmission of electric power. These metals, therefore, are quite as
necessary as are iron and steel. Moreover, this great waste, a seeming
incubus on the face of the earth, is each year disclosing more and more
of its mineral and agricultural wealth.
Gold is the most widely disseminated of all metals, and is said to be
where you find it. That this statement is true has been demonstrated
many times, especially during the last few decades. In the north it has
been found in the frozen ground of Alaska and Siberia, in the south in
the sands on the surf-beaten shores of Tierra del Fuego and in the reefs
of the Transvaal, while it is found in numerous places lying between
these extremes.
The vast tract of land in the western part of the United States whence
most of these metals are obtained has been the scene of many tragedies.
It is an inhospitable region, scanty in both animal and vegetable life,
where climatic conditions call for heroic daring on the part of those
who would search out its hidden mysteries; it is a land of death-dealing
mirages, yet containing untold wealth for the miner, and likewise for
the husbandman who can irrigate the fallow parched surface.
[Illustration: Mohave Desert, California. Buzzards' Roost]
The bold prospector has unearthed in many places of southern Nevada
gold-bearing rock assaying thousands of dollars to the ton, the result
being the building up of cities and towns and the construction of
connecting railroads to meet the demands of the growing commerce. Until
recently, silver was the principal metal sought and found in the State
of Nevada; but now gold is king, and his throne has been shifted from
one desert camp to another, each laying claim to his abundant presence,
while new claimants are ever bringing new treasures into light.
The two most valuable deposits of the precious metals now known in
Nevada are at Tonopah and Goldfield, the discovery of the first having
been made in 1901 and of the latter in the following year. Some of the
Goldfield ore has assayed as high as thirty thousand dollars per ton,
and so rich were many of its ores that they were sacked and carefully
guarded until landed at the reduction works. In one year and a half from
the discovery of gold at Goldfield the output reached four million
dollars.
These mines of the Nevada deserts excel in the richness and abundance of
their ores, while in the future these camps bid fair to outrival in
development all other sections of the United States. A few years ago the
southern part of the Silver State was considered utterly worthless and a
region to be shunned like a charnel-house, on account of its barren and
dangerous character. Now it is the Mecca of the gold-seeker.
These mines have already made many a poor man wealthy and many a wealthy
man a millionaire. Each hillock, ledge, or ravine holds a possible
fortune, and no hardship and peril is too great for the prospector lured
by the hope of a rich find. The prosperous desert mining town, first
built of canvas and rough lumber, is soon replaced by a better class of
buildings, and water is brought through long miles of pipe from the
nearest available source. Anon, electric-lighting and other modern
conveniences are added, thereby making life more tolerable in a fierce
climate of heat and cold, of fiercer winds and blinding dust.
Not only is gold found in these desert wastes, but borax, nitre,
sulphur, silver, salt, soda, opals, garnets, turquoises, onyx, and
marble form a part of its resources. Rich gold mines have built the
towns of Randsburg and Johannesburg in the midst of the Mohave desert,
while finds of rich ore made elsewhere are of frequent occurrence. It is
thought that in the near future sufficient nitre can be obtained from
the deserts of California and Nevada to render the United States
independent of Chile, from whose desert, Atacama, the world's chief
supply of this mineral is now obtained.
Perhaps there is no part of the United States more healthy and at the
same time more deadly than the southeastern part of California, embraced
in those indefinite areas called the Mohave and Colorado deserts. That
life and death should lay claim to the same regions with equal strength
seems somewhat of a riddle, but a careful investigation of the
conditions will make good the claims of both. Here are regions rivalling
the Sahara in heat, lack of water, and barrenness, and in many parts as
difficult to traverse; regions full of surprises in deceptive mirages,
peculiar vegetation, strange animal life, occasional cloud-bursts, purity
and exhilarating effects of atmosphere, charm of ever-changing colors
reflected from the mountains, wealth of floral display in early spring,
and marvellous fertility of soil when touched by the magic wand of
water. All these and a certain weirdness of beauty difficult to define
give these great wastes a peculiar attraction of their own which only
those who have spent much time there can understand and appreciate.
For the dread white plague in its early stages there is no medicine and
no other climate that can equal the pure, healing atmosphere of these
deserts. A new lease of life may be gained by the nerve-racked man or
woman who will lay aside all home worries and spend a few months at some
congenial home on one or another of these deserts.
[Illustration: Gila monsters]
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.
[Illustration: A giant cactus in Arizona]
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.
[Illustration: _Built by the U. S. Reclamation Service_ The Roosevelt
Dam, Arizona, showing south bridge and spillway]
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.
[Illustration: Shoshone Project, Wyoming Shoshone Canyon, looking
upstream toward the dam. Dam, 328.4 feet high; storage capacity, 456,000
acre-feet]
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.