The Fort Lyon Canal: The First 100 Years 1897 to 1997

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$500,000.00. The Company became vary active in farm- ing operations and buying lands, until at one time it con- trolled or owned about 20,000 acres with the water rights thereon; every acre of which land, however, was sub- ject to a first mortgage of $10.00 to $12.50 per acre. As the funds became exhausted and the interest fell due the Company became financially embarrassed, judg- ments were secured under a writ of attachment for about $25,000.00 and the canal was sold by the Sheriff to satisfy these claims. The purchasers were the Bent County Bank and Messrs Colt, Reinhart and Burke and George Closson, plaintiffs in the attachment suits. The claims under which the writ of attachment was issued were unpaid accounts for construction work on the ca- nal. The writ was issued July 15t ", 1890, and the sale was some months subsequent to that date. At the time of the sale the Canal Company had in force and effect outstanding water contracts and deeds for the delivery of water to the amount of 980 cubic feet per second; sufficient for the irrigation of 54,400 acres on the basis of the apportionment agreed upon. At the same time the canal capacity did not exceed 761.8 cubic feet per second, or about 218 second -feet less than the amount sold without taking into account the losses in delivering. To allow for loss by seepage and evapora- tion, which amounted to at least one -third of the volume taken in at the headgate, the capacity required to de- liver the amount sold would have been over 1300 sec- ond -feet, or more than 170% of the actual capacity. It is evident, therefore, that the canal had been very greatly oversold beyond its capacity. The water right contracts provided that when the capacity of the Company's ca- 13