Utah exhibits [of the] State of Arizona, complainant, v. State of California, Palo Verde Irrigation District, Imperial Irrigation District, Coachella Valley County Water District, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, City of Los Angeles, City of San Diego, and County of San Diego, defendants, United States of America and State of Nevada, interveners, State of New Mexico and State of Utah, parties

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212 IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS IN UTAH. acre. It was found practically impossible to build a dam in the river that would withstand even the more moderate Hoods. Rocks and piles sank in the quicksand of the river until hope of building a permanent dam was almost given up. On January 12, 1870, fourteen years after the little band pitched their tents in Virgin Valley, the official returns made to the board of directors of the Virgin Field showed that there were then 84 miles of community canals and ditches on the Virgin River and Santa Clara Creek, which had cost #55.1W3; that there were 74 miles of private ditches, which had cost #5,820; that the cost of repairing dams and ditches had been #18. 150, and that the total cost for irrigation works had been #7(.'.tM>3. In 1*77 another attempt at dam building in the river was made about 1$ miles abort* the tunnel, at a cost of over S4,<>0<> for the dam and canal leading to it. In 1881 the sum of (18,584 was collected for repairs from 448 acres, a tax of $8 per acre. In 1*82 the amount fell to $l,O88.<>2 for the Virgin, Jarvis, and Seep Ditch fields. These figures but partially tell of the burden that had to be borne in settling the new southern wilderness. The cost of living was excessively high. Common labor cost S3 per day. Flour cost from $15 to $25 per hundred pounds. The price of sugar was $1 per pound: of molasses, &4 per gallon; of common cotton domestic. Si per yard; of coal oil. ^.8 per gallon. One hundred dollars a thousand feet was paid for lumber 5*1 and 75 miles away. A sheep for a pound of tea was a common bargain. Provisions of all kinds were freighted by mule teams from San Bernardino or Los Angeles, Cal., at 1<» cents a pound. Traffic in these commodities was practicallv all by barter, for cash was seldom if ever in circulation. Nor was there other than a local basis for values. Prices of produce to pay for work on dams and ditches were determined in mass meetings of the owners of the land watered. Prices of produce for taxes were fixed by the county court, and it is not uncommon to find entries in the county court records such as that made December 7, 18»>3, which states that '*it was decided that molasses, at £1.75 per gallon, be paid R. L. Lloyd for 72 pounds of cotton, which is hereby appropriated to pay for the probate and county court seals.'' The type of institution in the Virgin Valley is essentially cooperative, as it is elsewhere among the Mormons. If the rights of one settlement to water are encroached upon by the farmers elsewhere, the natural method is to stand firm as a local unit until the wrong is righted. If new lands must be brought under ditch to keep the young men at home on the farms, the usual procedure is a joining of forces until the result is accomplished. If water for irrigation is to be distributed, the only way the settlers know is to work together until each man ha* his rightful .share. Thus it is that a forbidding country hits l>een made fruitful where individual effort would have failed. The early history of these pioneers has been given in some detail because it is the first step in understanding the agricultural conditions of the valley. Without it one can not appreciate the character of farming on Virgin River nor the care with which the necessary improvements in irrigation must be made. The farmer of the Virgin River is the farmer of small means and modest wants. Yet his 5 acres of alfalfa is his fortune. Losing it he loses everything but an opportunity to make a new start in a different country where life is strange to him. Settlement of both the upper and lower valleys of the river did not follow for several years after the founding of St. George and surrounding towns. About 1866