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<br />187
<br />
<br />The Gunnison River Diversion Project
<br />
<br />By RICHARD G. BEIDLEMAN*
<br />
<br />In the excitement of a Centennial year, it is easy to forget historic
<br />events of only a half-century ago. But in the Uncompahgre Valley
<br />on September 23, 1959, there will be some, at least, who will remember
<br />a moment fifty years earlier when the valley traded its desert for an
<br />Eden. At the touch of a President's hand, the head gates of a new
<br />tunnel, the longest in the West, had swung open, releasing the turbu-
<br />lent waters of the Gunnison River from the forbidding chasm of Black
<br />Canyon into what William Howard Taft called the "incomparable
<br />valley with the unpronounceable name."I
<br />The Gunnison River Diversion Project was one of the first recla-
<br />mation projects to be undertaken by the United States Reclamation
<br />Service. Long before the grandiose endeavor became a reality, it had
<br />been a dream in the minds of many western Coloradans, In this article
<br />there has been an attempt to portray both the dream and the reality.
<br />This, like the story of Colorado's first gold rush, is an account of men
<br />against the elements, especially here the elements of water and earth.
<br />The sources are scattered, the facts at variance with each other, Local
<br />newspapers of the time probably represent the best reflection of
<br />what took place with respect to exploration of the river; the annual
<br />reports of the U. S. Geological Survey and the U, S. Reclamation
<br />Service portray in detail the saga of tunnel construction.
<br />This consideration of the Gunnison River Diversion Project was
<br />prepared as a portion of the museum prospectus for the proposed
<br />visitor center at Black Canyon National Monument, under Mission 66.
<br />The author is indebted to the National Park Service for permission to
<br />present this compilation in published form,-The Author.
<br />
<br />EXPLORATION OF THE BLACK CANYON
<br />
<br />It took more than the mere quest for adventure to entice
<br />the first white men down the churning white waters of the
<br />Gunnison River where it rushed through Black Canyon!
<br />In the decades before the turn of the century, so one story
<br />goes, there was a French settler, F. C. Lauzon, living in the
<br />Uncompahgre Valley.' His holdings comprised forty barren
<br />acres which were watered by a dribble from the fluctuating
<br />Uncompahgre River and by erratic downpourings from short-
<br />lived storms. Lauzon knew of the Gunnison River, entrenched
<br />in its rock-walled canyon to the north, and after long cogitation
<br />he became convinced that its bountiful waters could be di-
<br />verted into the arid Uncompahgre Valley by means of a
<br />judiciously placed tunnel and system of connecting canals.
<br />Probably many of the local ranchers and farmers, including
<br />
<br />'.,'
<br />
<br />. Dr. Richard G. Beidlema.n, of the Zoology Department, Colorado College,
<br />Colora.do Springs, Colorado, has taught at Colorado State University and at the
<br />University of Colorado. Recipient of a large grant from the Ford Foundation,
<br />several years ago, Dr. and Mrs. Beit.lleman followed man~' of the routes of early
<br />Western explorers, in a search for zoological data. He has written numerous
<br />articles for Colorado lVonderlanll, Colorado Outdoors and other Western publi-
<br />ctLtions.-Editor.
<br />1 Lillian R. Brigllam, Colorado Travelore (Denver, 1938), p. 134.
<br />2 C. H. Forbes-Lindsey, "Exploring the Gunnison Canon." lVorlcl's Work,
<br />Vol. 14 (1907), No.6, 9376; A, W, RolI,er and ,Pay A. WiJley, "The Heroes of
<br />tile Gunnison Tunnel," Everybody's .Mago;dne.. }()1. 21 (19IHI). No.4, 506-508.
<br />
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