Laserfiche WebLink
<br />"\": ~ ~ ", 'i <br />(.... '>.' -'.. ,,' '.J. J <br /> <br />3 <br /> <br />water law was assembled incrementally, the system of surface-ground <br />water management has become somewhat cumbersome. New mechani sms are <br />needed to improve its operation. <br />Water management pol icies and procedures within the South Platte <br />Basin are deeply intertwined with history. For this reason, it is <br />necessary to provide an historical perspective on those now in effect. <br />Following the next section on historical perspective, an analysis is <br />provided of the stages through wh ich wa ter management has proceeded. <br />,This section is further elaborated in Chapter III, and Chapter IV. <br />1.2 Historical Perspective <br />Major Stephen H. Long and General John C. Fremont came up the South <br />Platte River in 1820 and 1842. Both of them questioned the value of <br />"The Great American Desert." They found nothing but shallow valleys and <br />flat prairies populated by enormous buffalo herds and roaming Indians. <br />The fur trappers followed the military explorers and established trading <br />posts at Ft. St. Vrain and Ft. Lupton to barter with the Indians. Next <br />came the cattlemen who established ranch headquarters on the South <br />Platte; but they ranged their cattle herds widely, wherever grass and <br />water could be found. <br /> <br />The population on the river remained quite sparse until the "gold <br />rush" of '1859. ,This started a large influx of opportunityseekers. <br />However, the lure. of gold brought only disillusionment to many who <br />eventually turned to more stable enterprises such as growing crops and <br />selling them to the "boom town" of Denver and the mountain mining camps. <br />Of necessity, these miners-turned-fanners became pioneer <br />irrigators. The rush for gold turned into a scurry to the river. <br /> <br />i <br /> <br />,; , _'" ~E. '0 "l'~ _ _~ ,J1::t'-,,'ii <br />