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strife and Settlement in the Lower Basin The Imuerial Valley PONell was not the only adventurer to recognize the poten- tial of the southern deserts of the Colorado Basin. On~ of the hopefuls of the California Gold Rush stumbled onto the odd fact that the rich Colorado Desert was oelow the level of the river delta, maAing possible irrigation by gravity. Though he later became governor of the state, this prospector never succeeded in gaining title to the "worthless" expanse of la~d in southern California. The idea was picked u[ near the close of the century by an engineer ~'lho realized that more money was to be made by the sale of water without wich the land would be worthless. He finally got the financial backing (no mean feat for the 1690's), interested settlers, and the completed irrigation canal. 1901 s~w the birth and boom of the Imperial Valley out of what once was the Colorado Desert. The river WnS not to be tamed so easily, however. Within three years after the canal's opening, tue Colorado had silted it up so that the breadbasket of the Southwest was in danger of reverting to desert status. Attempts to remedy the situa- tion were disasterous. In 1905, the river flooded five times, eaca time depositing more sand in its bed while attacki~g the mouth of the canal. By the end of the fifth flood, the Color- ado had completely 511 ted up its old chaLlilel and was then flo',\[- ing in its entirety through the "canal" into the I3perial -3-