Denver began to boom in 1859 when rumors about the discovery of gold around Cherry Creek spread across the United States and beyond. The region—better known as the South Platte River Valley—is dry in nature. It is watered by Cherry Creek and the South Platte River—the same river pioneers traveling the Oregon and California Trails crossed just before it joins the North Platte River in today’s Nebraska.
However, as Denver grew, it found that the problem with relying on Cherry Creek alone was that the water source was just that—a creek. As growth spread, other smaller communities built up around Denver, and farmers moved in to grow crops to feed the burgeoning population, water needed to be brought in from the river. Thus, construction began on the canals – or ditches, as they were called.
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| 1881 Birdseye View map Denver, Colorado |
I have often heard of the advice that it is important to get a good education, or else a person could end up being only a ditch digger. There is a difference between digging a small trench and building a complex canal system. Today, we call that sort of work engineering construction, a field my husband made as his lifetime career, both as a laborer and an operating engineer running heavy equipment.
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| "Digging Ditches" on the High Line Canal |
Richard S. Little had worked as an engineer primarily for railroads in the upper Midwest. Drawn by the possibilities in the Colorado gold fields, he left Wisconsin in 1861. Soon after arriving in Denver, he was hired by the Capital Hydraulic Company to supervise construction of a ditch to bring water to Denver from the South Platte River. The inlet for the ditch, engineered by Little’s predecessor, needed to be redesigned. He moved the new inlet four miles upstream. Work began on the ditch in 1865 when John W. Smith contracted to construct it for a sum of $10,000.
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| 1921 map Denver Municipal Water Works, City Ditch highlighted |
The City Ditch was one of the first irrigation canals in Colorado and was then given priority #1 to take water from the South Platte River to Denver. To the eventual dismay of many citizens of Denver, much of the water between the river and the city was diverted for agricultural purposes.
Plagued by financial difficulties,
construction was postponed, but eventually completed—one source states in 1867,
another in 1870. Known by the name “City Ditch,” it became the primary source
of water for Denver for a quarter of a century.
However, this canal had its limitations. During dry spells, when the South Platte River did not carry enough water to meet all canal requirements, the available water volume of the City Ditch often proved inadequate for both drinking water and water needed for fire safety. While researching my current book, set in 1882, I found this interesting snippet in the Rocky Mountain News dated July 26, 1882:
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| Snippet from Rocky Mountain News, 26 Jul 1882, City Canal |
And:
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| Snippet, Rocky Mountain News, 26 July 1882 |
Other canals were built in the region – many to bring water from the South Platte River to Denver and others to the agricultural areas surrounding the city. These include the Nevada Ditch, which parallels City Ditch on the west bank of the Platte. Construction on this ditch was begun in 1861. It is still in use today. Other canals were Hayland, Selzell, Fairview, Old Time, and Garden Ditches off of Deer Creek, Last Chance Ditch on the Platte and Littleton Heights Ditch in Slaughterhouse Gulch.
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| High Line Canal |
The biggest canal project of the era was the High Line Canal. This waterway, built by the Northern Colorado Irrigation Company, an English-owned company which was a subsidiary of the Colorado Mortgage Company, had its inlet about 1.8 miles (2.9 km) above the mouth of Waterton Canyon.
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| High Line Canal |
The company had acquired leftover land from the Kansas Pacific Railway. It repackaged the property and, along with the water rights, sold this land to farmers. The original construction including seventy-one miles (but, due to all the twists and turns, only about twenty-five miles as the crow flies), took place between 1879 and 1883, the time of my latest novel. It averaged thirty feet in width. It brought many settlers into the Platte River Valley.
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| 1921 map Denver Municipal Water Works-HLC highlighted |
However, due to its water rights being deemed junior to the water rights of seventy-four other canals in the South Platte watershed, it was frequently dry. It never reached its potential. It was designed to carry nearly three-quarters of a billion gallons of water per day. It averaged only seventy-one million gallons.
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| Work on the High Line Canal near Aurora, 1913 |
By 1883, about 250 ditches were in use. The concern over the amount of water being taken from the Platte resulted in judicial hearings to establish water rights.
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| Construction upgrades High Line Canal crossing Little Dry Creek- abt. 1913 |
In spite of all these issues, for many who lived along what was known locally as the “High Line Ditch” in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Canal was essential to everyday life and survival.
Today, the High Line Canal is better known to Colorado residents as a source of recreation. The canal itself (and the water flowing through it) is owned by Denver Water. The land adjacent is closed to all unauthorized motor vehicles, but approximately 60 miles (97 km) of the road have been improved for use as a recreational trail. Designated a National Landmark Trail, it is open to non-motorized users.
My next book to be published is Loving Lila, a Thanksgiving romance. Lila meets David, who works as a surveyor and grading supervisor on the High Line Canal project.
To find the book description and pre-order link, please CLICK HERE.
Sources:
https://www.denverwater.org/tap/denver-celebrates-150th-anniversary-of-city-ditch
https://history.denverlibrary.org/news/denvers-oldest-working-thing-has-been-flowing-150-years
https://wp-denverite.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2020/01/denver-water-ditch-map.jpg
https://highlinecanal.org/2016/11/high-line-canal-historic-survey-complete/
https://www.littletongov.org/my-littleton/littleton-history/other-topics/irrigation-projects
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Line_Canal
Interesting how Denver had all those canals. I really don't know how many they have today, or where their main water source is. But the area, and Colorado Springs, keeps growing rapidly. One can only pray the state has means to provide water for everyone.
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