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0 <br />History <br />North Platte Project <br />Early settlers in the North Platte Basin built <br />crude irrigation systems that soon proved <br />inadequate due to lack of water storage <br />facilities. Reclamation engineers inves- <br />tigating the region in 1902 found a suitable <br />dam and reservoir site in the narrow <br />canyon near where the Sweetwater and <br />the North Platte rivers meet. <br />Construction of Pathfinder Dam began in <br />1905 and was completed five years later. <br />It remains the principal storage structure of <br />the North Platte Project. Its reservoir was <br />the world's largest manmade reservoir in <br />1909. <br />The dam was built under difficult conditions <br />in a remote area. Horse freighters hauled <br />cement from Casper, 45 miles away. The <br />granite blocks, which make up 48 percent <br />of the dam, were quarried within a few <br />hundred yards of the construction site. <br />The tremendous significance of Pathfinder <br />Dam has been recognized by placement <br />on the National Register of Historic Places <br />and by designation as a Wyoming Historic <br />Civil Engineering Landmark. General John <br />C. Fremont, known as the "Pathfinder of <br />the West," provided the name for this <br />pioneering achievement. Fremont <br />explored the area in 1842. <br />Approximately 165 miles downstream is <br />the project's other major feature, Guernsey <br />Dam and Powerplant. The earthfill dam <br />was completed in 1927. Guernsey <br />Reservoir is located among the picturesque <br />pine- covered hills of the Haystack <br />Mountains. <br />In the 1930's, the Civilian Conservation <br />Corps (CCC) constructed roads, picnic <br />shelters, scenic overlooks, and a museum <br />at Guernsey, using classic stone- and -mor- <br />tar masonry. The area was later made a <br />State park and is listed on the National <br />Register of Historic Places. <br />Whalen Diversion Dam is located 10 miles <br />downstream from Guernsey. This dam <br />diverts water from the river into the Fort <br />Laramie and Interstate Canals. Construc- <br />tion of the Interstate Canal, started in July <br />1905, was the first undertaking of the North <br />Platte Project. This canal transports <br />irrigation water to farmland and to the <br />off - stream reservoirs Lakes Alice and <br />Minatare, located northeast of Scottsbluff, <br />Nebraska. <br />3 <br />