Show magazine ma 09 azine writer sees carbon carb on county as greatest U greatest farming t w 1 l arning locality y T in state slate of utah k BY E L RANSON la in the denver deaver ft blo ilia gran do well for my ERY IERY I is I 1 new spirit ot of optimism n in the agricultural district of I 1 carbon county 1 t As A the final developments of 0 tile price river water conservation district are being rapidly unfolded the lamers larni cr nho 03 have been handi handl capped by an insufficient water supply arc are taking a ft new nev lease on life opportunity seekers arc are heaning to rense the in the development velo ment of tho tile thou thousands sandi of acres nepes of pf idle kiu that the project will tring bring into cultivation As a 8 result carbon county is 18 on the vcrne 6 of it new era of agricultural and development that will into oa ba b a great firming centers in state ol 01 I 1 stab carbon comity county annas 18 boasted of tile greatest coal pro district in the state annu one of tile largest in III the west with its went four product mines tummy out over four million ind tony tons of quality coal a it year it has hns pained gained nn an enviable po mitlon in the nations total production and one of tilt larg cat LA tornik III g foil mines in the world ii is here geologists balm lalm there ii is enough ua mined minea coal in III carbon county to apply supply jhb th industrial ai a 1 domestic needs of the world for tile next hundred yeats if it were Jo pendent upon this county alono alone for iti its coal supply these coal fact facts stabilize tho ilia agri cultural cul development possibilities that are ire now low being brought out with th the I 1 completion of the jr dam bear star scofield Be ofield which i Is already begin to tore more water for this sea seasons 1180 in that I they ovi evidence dente pa imm and permanent market for the product products from bom the lands wide that this water will ir it regate by the time wite wate to needed for matur ing crops this summer the dam will be completed and ample water will bo be afforded for all time to come for tho the thirty even thousands arm arres of highly productive land that ii Is within the price river water commotion conservation die wet glitten thousand acres of land una Is now low under cultivation A great part of it has teen successfully farmed since 1885 but owing to the lack of a permanent water supply it lift lilts never been tally fully deje developed lopelL ath the ample aid and permanent water later apply supply furnished by the new enterprise the four hundred 1 I farmers now residing in jhb district will bo be g e lter of crop crops greater prodie tion biet t acre ere duo due to tho the application of 1 sd I the proper time ulan pie leis less risk of at failure due to uncertainty of weather conditions the value of their holding holdings will be increased the general prosperity incident to this increase together with the value of an go increased production will fatten their puree and bring about in increased creasea energy and ini fill tili tive A As settlers learn of the remarkable opportunities in the development of the rainy many thousands of acres of idle lands rinder ander the project thy hy h y will begin corn com la IN and find as a result carbon county will ben to progress and slid prosper through farming as it has in the past from mining the new reservoir wil will impound about acre feet of water turn furn filling a gravity flow through canals canal to every farm in the district distrI cL it will ton conserve serTO the water in the spring months during luring the heavy hear T runoff and distribute it 11 during the crowing stowing season over the land and in ue tte past it has frequently that an insufficient amount bowater has been available with which ti to io mature crops after july 1 this ha has brays been a serious handicap to the aimers la in the di and has prevent cd td successful development of the re to sources in 14 the many thousands of acres ef of fertile farm form lands in the county many of aich hare bare laid corint for years and a great many more which have bare never felt a plowshare the completion of the borsi DAM this summer will mark the and of a struggle for a water 1 sup u P ply that airs concerned ca lian hio cou county n ty farmers since rl rsm to firt early settlers arbir ca la in tal this berd rory some of these theme pon eera are ate still living lying they were interviewed by tho the writer on ott her of material for this special edition aad ana their stories illustrate a spirit of conquest con quee that has meant so much ir the development of the west without this dauntless spirit that knew know no obstacles st carbon county might still be the mecca of bandits and cattle rustlers that it was in those days futy seven year years ago 1190 then these rugged pioneers braved the dobiers doii ers of its tad lands aid made them give forth their rich stores of natural wealth it wn wat during the first part of j tan an uary NY 1879 that caleb rhodes frederick E grames alfred grames and ad charles gramen left it ft salem utah mali to explore what was then known as castle valley a parr part of chich has since be come carbon count after many dif encountered in road toad making removing timbers and crop cropping sing the spanish fork and pric price cana can ons they arrived at tit what is known as rhodes meadows about three miles north of price on january 21 1870 Z ese mea men maje male a dagone along he be north side of the meadow for a place of shelter until they could build a log cable A few days later fred E F gram to went on down the river and located at what Ls 11 now known as the J M tobe wb whilmore atmore imore farm due west of trice he constructed the same kind of A dwelling dwell ng as U a 9 temporary resi residence deneL chodos had visited this section of the country a few yeara previous on an a beating and trinela tran trIn pies pla trip he ile saw the 1 tat that would res I 1 I 1 ni As settlers came in this was soba a real ima on larch march 9 wl lei leif simmons william Will iaia Z warren and find thorns thomas cald well la in fro from in spanish fork volk on a march match 12 robert A powell william 11 ieli avis tvis and ind tonics james lay gay of salem nr at rived april 1 john A rowell powell ly man curti awl futrall arrah powell from sa sis lem Irmar arrles ahse people spread down the bottom lot tom land along itice river building temporary shacks or dugouts for shelter As paring opened up the time for amp camp and p were enado to put in crops principally grain and i ug etab a A water level was made out of an old coal oil cai that wa wits fashioned iao alto a tube three feet long and one and ana one hak will inches in dl at by tho the time water atef if Is needed for ma placed la in ach each end cf ef this tube which vai was then balanced on ft a tripod made of cottonwood ticks and partly filled with water the surveyor looked through this tube ovar the top of the watt t aich would cheti tal linead teeA properly tent ai as a level for survey in ing g dit alt ches with this crude instrument the first irrigation system in carbon t county wd surveyed the rhodes ditch wai was eon too strutted for about two and A half miles and ana the fred frid ditch about the same distance through these ditche their landi lands were irrigated their stores became low before the crop crops were mature and they flere viere forced to live almost loit exclusively on wild game oxen were used to plow low the soil with crooked trees as a a tedious and primitive method but these folks per cried and a fair harv bary I 1 of wheat oat oats corn aid potatoes were harvest ed the old cradle was used in cutting the grain and the clayel for threshing it olt the old time coffee enill a loed to grind the corn and antl wheat arom these grinnings grin dinga aings eora corn mush and browa brown bread were mado made with venison antelope and buffalo for neat meat these people to get along from year tear to year by raising their own owa limited as they were and put in their time that was not at con ton turned sullied in farming building log cabins corrals barm barns and other things in pro caration pa ration for the better days to cone colne when their harreitt har reits and herds increased and civilization pushed forward to this distant outpost the surplus crops that they managed to zo raise after the first two were trans ported by ex ox teams to spanish folk ind and prove provo where they were traded for nece itte biere were no coal mines in carbon county winter quarters mine had been ba opened up in pleasant valley near where scofield rova m stands bot but this mine only operated in the rummer trucked its chai by wagon wago A and only odly employed a few men it was not rot a likely market for their produce it wax not until 1885 when the den ver rio orande grande railroad built through this territory on to ogden that these early settles settle 9 began to realize much from their pur pursuits with the completion of the railroad several new mines were opened up a price canyon near catle castle date late with broad transportation facilities for the of their coal they began pro dating in darneal helper sprang up U railroad terminal and many wany ballf into came faint in to Olle tAte it the brought in numbers of miners loeri oi price arl sprang into exI alenot at anil and grew grow from the dugout stig real business and residential proper gions the settlers who ho had bad com 4 in four yeara before found everything they raised over and bovo ocar omi ton OD mapped snapped ap up ear gelly at tp top prices they prospered greatly and a creased their scope of activity in A a effort to supply the demkon for klel produce other settlers ett lera came CAMO la in and ind boon took up tip all the available bottom lands immediately adjoining the trice 1 tiler wille mile they railed r a ilea bounkeo us cro oil the be water supply through mall small individual canal from the river wa WAS not sufficient to begin to satisfactorily irrig irrigate to enough land to supply even a small adall I 1 art of the demand tbt that had been created crested la IS the new mining district later larger can 2 were built by alit hac farmers aracri along the aher er in cooperation with the residents of price who pooled their resources in lavio and money motley in III en an organization knorn ai as the price alver water a company thia this system of irrigation gave price ite its tint first tory toy water apply I 1 previous lou to the building of this larger canal pice had t hau haul water from ilia river in bourrels domestic doroe itie use thil this system olio also re to claimed everal several thousand acres of the bench la d and brought the total of producing landi lands la in tho the county op up to elitc a thousand thou tand acres by igoe 1902 the reclaiming of go 10 much new rew land by thil this enlarged dyste hyem woj WU the cause of much distress later m at a it time when it waa was idest needed for maturing crops water would become low in the river malting making it impossible to irrigate it and ranny many crop failures fal larel resulted this aitu situ aaion drove many farmer farmers out of the district thoe those leml remaining laing dull farmed in i X halfhearted manner one here orchard la 14 the di dutreil was wa allowed to die and ad has since been palled pulled up op but the rood goni people of carbon county were thy their refused to id ad alt mit il failure lilure in their attempt to de do celop itt its agricultural possibilities and in 1902 formed what hat wa was known ai as the carbon county conservation district A rr senoir known 1 ai to the mammoth rei fee erholt was contu eted near the head of or price river at the lame same time a larg er tr diversion dim wai was built a few miles north of price ca tit the arl prie e river to dytrt the water stored in the reservoir nien ivien it wit wj let down the liver river coring i the low water seA seamons ons through latr ra ta nals aa over the he lindi lands in the district dit triet most of watch were the berch belch landi lands auth south of price this project was wa completed in 1900 and was ai fully successful until through a freak of fate the reservoir 1 collapsed colla pied on june 0 31 4 1917 the ahe resultant flood took one life and ruined thousands of dollar mars wo we th of property again farm enterprise took a bankiet immediately after thu this catastrophe eata trope however the progress lia citizens of the county ban began deviling devising rays and mean to again ref ff ster ter on the thousands 0 of seres of fertile land that only needed irrigation to make it productive As a result of their the present price rice ihrer river water conservation dis fript wa wits formed in nor aber 1922 a special election was wa held for the purpose of bonding the aeres of land within the district to the extent of to be used in building the dam ihm relocating 0 6 miles tf the denver klo rio orande western riar ad a from the bed of 0 the reservoir site upon the hillside acquiring land una water right rights and other ex expense penseL using ming the ownership of acreage within the district as a a basis for the voted vote only 79 votsi bainet the ishuan o of the bond bonds with th tb bond issue thui thus authorized the problem of 0 finding a responsible firm to uld arite thep them was borud dlf ficula after two years of discouraging dealings dl bg the board of director directors of the district finally placed the tha issue with sutherlin Sul herlin barry company new orleans investment backer bankers and tb the work of construe llon begin the bondi bonds which constitute a direct tax lien on all the property in to tho die dis tritt are of twenty year duration lar bear ing fix six per cent tent interest ln with repayment of one tenth of the principal each year bel banning ginning with toe the expiration of the eleventh year atie total indebtedness per acre for twenty year years Indu Inel fling uffing in terest repa ment of and oper atton at cost Is 26 bd thil this coit cost compares comp arci vry vory favorably with that of other ir it gatlon ri project projects of the country it Is not considering th the I 1 prodie ti veness of the landi lands that arc are t involved throughout all the years of ing adversity it bas has been proved that the land lands which the price luver river water district embraces em bracci will pro duee abundantly with an ample water vater supply borne some of the older landi lands in the district have hare produced i reduced as high ai As 1100 in a it ingle single aoa from staple product products all of the land in the district is enee tally adapted to staple product prod neli 0 U alerted by the following auction duct lon alfalfa 4 tona tons to the arr sugar beet beets 1 to the tb bere potatoes Potito ct bushels to theatre the 40 bucila to the at ian oat oats 70 bushels to ui lt o 0 Vs barley CO 60 bushels to the aen zero alfalfa iced seed 8 bushels to the act garden truck per aen the arke of cultivated d land uner the project ii Is fron 90 to 1 05 per belill aeri and raw land nay MAY be purchased for from 30 to 30 per acre othet land lan in the ame same locality are valued ai its high is IN pir rr acre the soil over the entire district ii is 6 rich mandy clay or loan loam it froeb tight eight to fifty feet in depth ii Is tm free working and boole on the surface 13 10 that ii Is readily it ii Is suitable lal table for irrigation purpose the th subsoil belig heavy enough to gite giro it a good water retaining capacity the natural drainage both sulfate and over the project ii 11 ex cel cellena lent and there Is I 1 ro danger of water logging loft 11 from tho increased supply of water continued on P go ten mm wa amiter SEES GREAT RE FOR LOCAL COUNTY continued from page four your the writer visited several farm farms in the autri t that are ex amples of what can le ikie in the district and the |