OCR Text |
Show AGRICULTURE UNDER IRRIGATION IN BA8IN OF VIRGIN RIVER. 213 there was a movement to the valley of Muddy Creek, which is the lower tributary of the Virgin, joining it from the north in southern Nevada, 25 miles above the junction of the Virgin with the Colorado. This movement, known as the Mudd\* Mission, resulted in the settlement of the towns of St. Thomas, near the end of Muddy Valley, Overtoil, and St. Joseph, near the upper end of the valley. Ditches were built and irrigation carried on for several years, but through dissatisfaction of the settlers, caused by uncertainty as to whether the valley was part of Nevada or part of Utah, the valley was abandoned early in 1871, and the settlements founded left to ruins. It was not for a number of years that the once cultivated fields received further attention, but they now again support the three towns. The name of St. Joseph has been changed to Logan. The settlement of the Upper Virgin Valle}7, known as Long Valley, followed in about 187<>. Mount Carmel, lowest in the valley, and Glendale, a few miles above, were organized as precincts June 27, 1871. Orderville, between the two, was started about the same time. EXTENT AND CONDITIONS OF IRRIGATION IN THE BASIN. The farms on Virgin River, as elsewhere in Utah, are in community groups surrounding or not far from the settlements from which they are worked. Only in rare instances does a farmer live on his farm, but instead, in the village made up of his neighbor farmers. This compact village type considerably alters agricultural methods and makes the farms less diversified than is common in intensely cultivated farm homes. There is no place in the field for the fruit and vegetables that ordinarily supply so much of the farmer's living. Those products are grown in the village dooryards, where they can have the requisite care and attention. His field is essentially a one-crop field, generally alfalfa, or it may have also wheat or oats. He hauls his product 1, 2, or 4 miles to town, where he stacks it for the winter's feeding. Agriculturally considered, the Virgin River is naturally in three divisions-that of which St. George is the center and which will be designated in this report as the central division, extending from the narrows above Rockville to the canyon below St. George; that reaching from Littletield and Beaverdam to the mouf.h of the river, the lower division; and that of Long Valley, at the head of East Fork, which will be called the upper division. As already shown, these divisions are separated by natural barriers, and, in the distribution of the water of the river, no account is taken in any of the three divisions of the use of water in the other two. This is because in the dry seasons water does not pass down the river from Long Vallev to the central division, nor from the central division to the lower division. In discussing the subjects of this report the three divisions will, therefore, be considered separately. THE CENTRAL DIVISION OF THE BASIN. The central division of Virgin Basin is the furthest developed and the most important of the three. The largest settlement is at St. George, the county seat of Washington County and the chief city of southern Utah. Next in magnitude are the settlements at La Verkin and Hurricane benches, which are both new. Besides these three, the central division includes Bloomington, Price, and Atkinville, on the Virgin |
Source |
Original book: 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 |