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<br />farming the land were recognized early on. For example, <br />the emerging mining towns of Cripple Creek and Victor <br />to the west desperately needed the foodstuffs providec <br />by the farming communities aiong the Arkansas Valley. <br />The key ingredient to this new use of the land required <br />not only dedicated settlers willing to put their sweat and <br />blood into what was often a risky venture at best, but it <br />required plentiful supplies of water to sustain crops <br />through those frequent times when rainfall was not avail- <br />able. While canals were not indigenous to Colorado. <br />they found wide acceptance there. In a cooperative <br />endeavor, the Arkansas Vailey Ditch (sometimes known <br />as the Cornmeal Ditch) was begun in 1861 to irrigate <br />bottom land near Boone, Colorado. A revision of territo- <br />rial law in 1872 established water priority rights. Nu- <br />merous canals would spring up to distribute available <br />river water. In 1879 and 1881 Colorado would adopt <br />water districts and divisions to better control usage of <br />this precious natural resource. <br /> <br />The best way to understand the early development <br />of the Fort Lyon Canal is to read the comprehensive <br />document prepared by James D. Schuyler, consulting <br />hydraulic engineer, of Los Angeles, California, in March <br />of 1910, for the Fort Lyon Canal Company. That report <br />is included in its entirety in the next chapter of this book. <br />The report was prepared to show both the necessity for <br />and stability of a company VJhich would greatly benefit <br />from capital improvements and increased usage of "state <br />of the art" technology for that era. However, such an <br />extensive undertaking required an infusion of capital far <br />beyond what most enterprises would ever attempt to <br />undertake in that day and time. It vias a gamble that <br /> <br />5 <br />