Show The Father of the Greater Delta Country by hr Frank Beckwith in the Arrowhead Magazine 1 Jany 1917 To tho the sighted far-sighted keen vision of ot James A. A Melville is due tho the Inception inception inception tion of ot the idea Idoa that grew from a single small watered tract to a large Irrigation empire For he first with witha a sightedness far much in advance of his fellows or times saw in his minds mind's eye a wide valley reclaimed by by irrigation from a former desert lake bed he saw greasewood and alkali give way before water to a series of ot fertile farms and he ho saw with it the for tor business business business busi busi- ness ambition and wealth And it takes pluck to pluck those plums Every person who is with an idea in advance of ot his times and I fellows Is dubbed a crank until crank until he makes good and then his loudest loudest loudest loud loud- est defamers are the first to put Hon before his name Melville had to stick sUck to to his idea through the calamity of ot an n soil nearly defying efforts to subdue it He had I Ito to per persist t in his idea after a diversion diversion diver diver- sion sJon dam went out he still clung with pertinacious grip when the followIng following following fol fol- fol- fol lowing year the main canal burst He had to face discouragement he be he was subject of ot calumny apparently apparently apparently he was the author of ot ruin near-ruin I to many who believed in him But ButhIs Buthis Buthis his enthusiasm was riveted to his faith quality heat treated and built to withstand nd just such jolts Such were the conditions Melville had to contend with and such were the requisites he possessed to bring him through He had come a a young man from Fillmore the historic old town of ot Utah where snugly nestled close to the hills he had keenly seen its expansion expansion expansion ex ex- ex- ex stop limited to o the area then only and water supply could reclaim reclaim reclaim-a a field altogether too limited for the tho sons yet to be born or even too narrow a field for tor the ambition of ot ofIs Its Is most sturdy sons then there He among ong others longed for elbow elbowroom elbowroom room a bigger field a bigger mark to make and in a bigger field bigger bigger big big- f ger r opportunities U s. s Th That t a a Ii man man Is sometimes the master of ot his destiny is proven by the after achievements So with Melville When James A. A Melville located in Delta but one company had beI begun begun be be- I gun operations namely operations namely the Deseret Deseret Deseret Des- Des eret Irrigation Company Deseret people are the pioneers in this part of ot the tho county and date from among I the very early settlements of the State Melville came to do the construction construction con con- Work of at the Ab Abraham ham Ir Irrigation Irrigation Ir- Ir Company and Incidentally to absorb and learn to no note e and apply apply apply ap ap- ap- ap ply and right quickly did his wings I assail sail independent flight a. a kAs i As a result he launched the the Melville Melville Mel Mel- ville Irrigation Company whose holdings are about acres with witha a water right of ot unquestioned solid solid- ity It is this company that brought into being the Town of ot Delta Eight years ago a box car squat on the ground robbed of its trucks for Indeed in indeed indeed In- In I deed trucks were much too valuable to be left unused in that forsaken n desolate country told the home- home seeker he was at AIken Alken If It any doubt existed there was the sign to tell the traveler beyond cavil that In truth he was a he waS wa'S newcomer wasn't Aiken ho was certainly pretty sore for tor the view at that time Ume was exactly in harmony with that abandoned box car the car the picture of desolation Then the name was changed to Burtner to honor an official of at the Salt I Lake Route The way Burtner scurried scurried scurried ried from under that stigma was no noway noway noway way slow The new namo name hung iu In t the e air aft And as well and at the same same time the fate tate of ot the town hung suspend suspend- suspended ed ted likewise for in that time the di diversion diversion diversion di- di version dam gave way resulting In 1 tho loss tho-loss loss of every crop only to be fol tel 1 lowed tho very ory next season with the 1 Bursting of at th the main canal just Above town and another year was a aI I I While name-hunting name for tor the waif matt wished to father the the- name Melville 1 was proposed only to be rejected by the postal authorities as too near in sound to So dangling there In suspense it really seemed scorned as It if Burtner the tho man could i not get rid of ot Burtner the town until acting on a n suggestion of ot th the postal authorities that a name of ot otI five letters be ChO chosen en a happy I thought hit upon Delta With a I change of ot name a transfusion o ot of blood and solid diet the tho youngster thrived For now no ono one need be ashamed of ot the town or community As this is written December 1916 the sugar beet crop for tor the year run to just about averaging nearly ten tons to tho the acre the wheat yield is nearly all shipped good hard wheat which brought brought this year such fancy tancy prices as for tor the last Jast alfalfa hay of which I think It Is sate safe to say the average yield will run above five tive tons per acre and is now being sold hero F. F O. O B. B Delta baled at 1650 per ton with ton with the price climbing right smart fast tast to 2000 Two commis commis- I sion slon firms buying hogs acres of ot Carey Act land acres cres In Inthe Inthe inthe the Melville project the Midland Company and then tributary to Delta for which tho the town is a center center center cen cen- ter the Deseret Irrigation Co and the Abraham Irrigation Co with their holdings holdings In In all an acreage under cultivation ranking in extent with the largest in the State This is what is now But back tour t to our story It wasn't all that then It was an untried experiment inthe in n inthe the critical time when wildcat concerns concerns concerns con con- cerns bursting right and left has simmered simmered simmered sim sim- the he ardor for tor Irrigated lands No sooner had tho the Melville Company Company Company Com Com- pany proved itself than th there re followed fol- fol lowed owed in quick succession lon the other companies Delta Land Power Co owners of ot the huge acre Carey Act Project the Midland I Company the Richlands Company the Sevier River L Land nd Water Co with acres acres acres- and close upon the heels of ot all THE GREATER DELTA COUNTRY Now there is on the Sevier River about seven miles above Mills l in Juab County Utah the great consolidated consolidated con con- soU dated Sevier Bridge Dam ninety ninety nine nine- ty y feet high reinforced with a cement ce- ce cement cement ce ce- ment ment core the picture of solidity But contrast this with my first impression ImpressIon impression im Im- of ot that self same dam a afew afew few tew years ago ago ago-a a little dinky mud dab thrown into a narrow part of ot a river in a hurry hury soggy on the lower side with seepage water running through enough to scare even the State Engineer whether it did or not I cant can't say but the lesson of ot the Dam owned by the State above this big dam taught the necessity of ot not relying on mud and as the lat later r companies needed more water the dam was vas raised from the then sixty foot level to the present ninety foot height When I first rode over that old dam In an auto and got onto that narrow top lop with Its ste steep p sides Its flimsy appearance appearance appear appear- an ance e gave me Immediate panic and had it been after atter a rain storm I would have got out and walked over for tor safety It looks different now the top is a a great ample driveway the sides slope away in ineasy easy angles f toward the upstream far into the bed three for tor one and down stream retaining of ot rock in this dam water is impounded for tor the Leamington Irrigation Co Samuel McIntyre Sevier SeYler River RiverLand RiverLand RiverLand Land Water Co Delta Land Water Co Melville Irrigation Co With Midland Company subsidiary subsidiary iary lary Deseret Irrigation Co With Richlands subsidiary and Swan Lake Companies Quite a host So the dam must needs be largo large And the men fathering fathering fa ta- it must and are on the same scale The credit for tor what Delta and the Greater Delta Country is now or ormay ormay ormay may become is largely due to the efforts of ot James A. A Melville FoundIng Founding Founding Found Found- ing the Melville Irrigating Co es establishing establishing establishing es- es a town wringing success from disaster with an undaunted courage and an unwavering ho he has merited the title TILE THE FATHER OF T THE E G GREATER DELTA COUN COUNTRY RY 0 0 |