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o 00 CD ......1 2 GUNNISON RIVER DIVERSION PROJECT Lauzon, had come to view the waters of the near-by but inac- cessible Gunnison River with proprietary anticipation in the late nineteenth century. Irrigation had come into vogue in the Uncompahgre Valley about 1875, the first crop being hay for shipment to the southwestern Colorado mines." Availability of water by irrigation ditches, starting about 1884, made pos- sible the raising of other crops and fruit trees. However, water resources of the valley soon proved inadequate under the increased demand. Much of the agricultural land was aban- doned and many a valuable house was deserted. Those settlers who remained naturally began toying with the idea of divert- ing the greater flow of the Gunnison into their own valley by means of tunnels and canals. If a tunnel were to be constructed, it was imperative that the canyon be surveyed to ascertain the best location for such a project. Up to 1882 the Black Canyon had generally been considered as impassable, and little specific information was available about it. The local Utes occasionally crossed the river within the present national monument area, especially at Red Rock Canyon, but reputedly felt that anyone going down- stream would never come out alive! Gunnison had avoided the canyon in 1853, by-passing it to the south and west as had Escalante before him in 1776. In 1874 the Middle Division of the Hayden Survey skirted the north rim of the canyon throughout its length, establishing several survey stations within the present extent of the Monument. Someone with this party reportedly gazed into the gorge and declared it inaccessible.' At one time an unidentified geologist who had been lowered 1000 feet into the chasm commented that "no man could go farther and live."6 The winter of 1882-83 saw the first successful, though par- tial, survey carried out within the canyon.' By this time the Denver and Rio Grande Railway had completed its line from Gunnison into the Black Canyon to Cimarron, the first pas- senger train passing to the end of the tracks on the morning of August 13, 1882.8 One hundred twenty-one tickets had been 3 U. S. Reclamation Service, First Annual Report of the Reclamation Service from June 17 to December 1, 1902 (1903), p. 133. 4 Forbes-Lindsey, op. cit., 9377. Ii A. L. Fellows, "The Gunnison Tunnel," Forestry and Irrigation, Vol. 9 (November, 1903), 530. 6 Rolker and Willey, op. cit., 508. 'l The account of this trip given here is based upon the following sources: Byron H. Bryant, MSS XI-26, Library, State Historical Society of Colorado. Denver. This is a typed copy of a letter written to Bryant's brother, Dr. Emory A. Bryant: Byron H. Bryant, "Exploration of the Black Canyon," The Trail, Vol. 12, No, 3 (1919). 5-10, This is a published copy of the letter cited above; .r. Fred Hunter, "Pre-Cambrian Rocks of Gunnison River, Colorado," U. S. Geol. SUTV. Bull.) No. 777 (1925), 3-4. Bryant's trip is sometimes incorrectly dated as having taken place in 1881-1882 or even 1881-1883. 8 George A. Root, "Gunnison in the Early 'Eighties," The Colorado Magazine) Vol. IX, No.6 (Nov., 1932), 208. So difficult had railroad workers found access to the upper Black Canyon that thy had had to use ladders from boats or hang suspended in rope cradles from the cliffs above to put in their black powder charges for blasting out the railroad bed. Brigham. op. cit.) p. 133.