Volume 023-6 - December 1969 (3 pages)

from the high mountain lakes to the mines, He came upon Fordyce Valley during his early explorations, and found cattle peacefully grazing in the lush grass. Jerome Foroyce had a homestead there, and while Rich visted him, recognized the possibilities for storing water in the confines of the narrow valley surrounded by high granite ridges. Although Rich and Fordyce filed a claim for water rights on the site, it was necessary to procure further acreage from others. The Fordyce stock ranch, belonging to Joe Dixon, was purchased in 1872 for $3500. Six hundred and forty acres were acquired from Mrs. E. J. Atkinson in 1878 for $1750, and the right to appropriate further land, if needed, was secured by deed in 1879 from E. L. McClure .** The building of Fordyce reservoir began in the summer of 1873. It was the largest dam ever attemped in California up to that time. Like Meadow Lake Reservoir, it began with a. rock wall, Engineering problems, however, developed as the structure was being built. A policy of the South Yuba Canal Company was the distribution of water to all ditch companies along its main canal, providing an ample supply of water was on hand, Otherwise, its own needs came first. Alvinza Hayward, capitalist and mine owner in the Dutch Flat area, and head of the Nevada Hydraulic Mining Company, felt the need for controlling the South Yuba Canal Company in order to assure a constant flow of water to his mines. He immediately jumped at the opportunity of lending his top engineer, John Spaulding, to complete the dam at Fordyce. *** Nevada Transcript, June 30,1875 **There are at present one hundred and fifteen men employed at Fordyce Dam. They have raisedit twenty feet. It is three-hundred feet long and one hundred feet thick, at the base, and made. entirely of rock blasted out of three different quaries and put in place by a large derrick. When completed the dam willbe ninety feet high. The water is now thirty feet high and extends back three miles. Owners employ only white men.’’ Hayward journeyed East and won the support of financier, Warner Van Norden, who came to Nevada County to examine the canal system. This resulted in the incorporation of anew company, the South Yuba Water and Mining Company. On April 1, 1880, President James Whartenby closed the books of the South Yuba Canal Company, stepped down and handed them over to Alvinza Hayward, the president of the new company **** John Earl Brown, brother-in-law of Charles Marsh, remainedas Secretary. An-editorial in the local newspaper gives an indication ofthe accomplishments of the South Yuba Canal Company before its sale. Tr-Weekly Herald, July 9, 1878: by John Earl Brown, ‘‘Sixty miles Northeast of Nevada City, and situated near the summit of the Sierra in the region of the deepest snow, lies Fordyce Valley. Many years ago this valley was occupied by Mr. Fordyce as a stock ranch. It was subsequently purchased by the South Yuba Canal Co. for an artificial lake. It contained eight hundred acres, was three miles long and one-half mile wide. Depth at gate, fifty-six feet, Situated higher up are seven small reservoirs, built to collect water from the melting snows and connecting with Fordyce by canals. The outlet of the main reservoir is the bed of the North fork branch of the South Yuba. Eight miles below, it is joined by the waters of the South fork branch of the South Yuba. Fifteen miles from the outlet of the lake is the dam belonging to the Miner’s Ditch Company, where water is carried off to supply the Dutch Flat mines. Below this dam is the large dam of the South Yuba Canal Co. Still further down on the bed of the river are the dams of the Omega Ditch Co., and of the Blue Tent Co. The S. Yuba Canal Co. has the prior or oldest right and other ditch companies can use the water only when there is a surplus, At the Yuba Dam the water is taken off by means of a canal which does not follow the course of the river, but passes through Bear Valley. Ata distance of one and a half miles below the dam is the Dutch Flat ditch. The big tunnel through which the main ditch passes is situated at the head of Deer Creek and is one and a half miles long. At this point two ditches branch off, one towards Chalk Bluff on the East, and the other towards Blue Tent. The water in the main ditch is here allowed to run in the bed of Deer Creek, a distance of five miles, where it is again taken up and conveyed by canal. At this point, Cascade Ditch branches off and furnishes water to Quaker Hill and Hunt’s Hill. Two and a half miles down Deer Creek are the VFlume and the V-Flume mill. Here a portion of the water is carried down the V-Flume to Town Talk and thence to Grass Valley, while waste and surplus water finds its way down Deer Creek. The course of the main ditch is traversed by a complete network of smaller ones. At every point on the South Yuba Canal, where a ditch branches off, men are stationed for the purpose of tending to the gates, and distributing the supply of water in accordance with the demands. It was necessary to draw itoffinto the other ditches and store it in the reservoirs when one or more mining camps wanted no more water for a short time. These men are under the direction of the superintendent who had to contact them by letter until the invention of the telephone. Before that time, water would be running to waste for a day or two before his order to turn it in some other direction could be forwarded to the ditch tender.’’ Although the end of the South Yuba Canal Company came with its sale in 1880, the storage and dispensing of water continued under various company names, the South Yuba Water and Mining Company, the Sovth Yuba Water Company, the California Gas and Electric Company, and finally the mammoth Pacific Gas and Electric Company. Although hydraulic mining declined after 1884, the need for irrigation to agricultural areas, and hydro-

from the high mountain lakes to the mines, He came upon Fordyce Valley during his early explorations, and found cattle peacefully grazing in the lush grass. Jerome Foroyce had a homestead there, and while Rich visted him, recognized the possibilities for storing water in the confines of the narrow valley surrounded by high granite ridges. Although Rich and Fordyce filed a claim for water rights on the site, it was necessary to procure further acreage from others.. The Fordyce stock ranch, belonging to Joe Dixon, was purchased in 1872 for $3500. Six hundred and forty acres were acquired from Mrs. E. J. Atkinson in 1878 for $1750, and the right to appropriate further land, if needed, was secured by deed in 1879 from E. L. McClure .** The building of Fordyce reservoir began in the summer of 1873. It was the largest dam ever attemped in California up to that time. Like Meadow Lake Reservoir, it began with a. rock wall, Engineering problems, however, developed as the structure was being built. A policy of the South Yuba Canal Company was the distribution of water to all ditch companies along its main canal, providing an ample supply of water was on hand, Otherwise, its own needs came first. Alvinza Hayward, capitalist and mine owner in the Dutch Flat area, and head of the Nevada Hydraulic Mining Company, felt the need for controlling the South Yuba Canal Company in order to assure a constant flow of water to his mines. He immediately jumped at the opportunity of lending his top engineer, John Spaulding, to complete the dam at Fordyce. *** Nevada Transcript, June 30,1875 **There are at present one hundred and fifteen men employed at Fordyce Dam. They have raisedit twenty feet. It is three-hundred feet long and one hundred feet thick, at the base, and made. entirely of rock blasted out of three different quaries and put in place by a large derrick. When completed the dam willbe ninety feet high. The water is now thirty feet high and extends back three miles. Owners employ only white men.’’ Hayward journeyed East and won the support of financier, Warner Van Norden, who came to Nevada County to examine the canal system. This resulted in the incorporation of anew company, the South Yuba Water and Mining Company. On April 1, 1880, President James Whartenby closed the books of the South Yuba Canal Company, stepped down and handed them over to Alvinza Hayward, the president of the new company **** John Earl Brown, brother-in-law of Charles Marsh, remainedas Secretary. An-editorial in the local newspaper gives an indication ofthe accomplishments of the South Yuba Canal Company before its sale. Tr-Weekly Herald, July 9, 1878: by John Earl Brown, ‘‘Sixty miles Northeast of Nevada City, and situated near the summit of the Sierra in the region of the deepest snow, lies Fordyce Valley. Many years ago this valley was occupied by Mr. Fordyce as a stock ranch. It was subsequently purchased by the South Yuba Canal Co. for an artificial lake. It contained eight hundred acres, was

three miles long and one-half mile wide. Depth at gate, fifty-six feet, Situated higher up are seven small reservoirs, built to collect water from the melting snows and connecting with Fordyce by canals. The outlet of the main reservoir is the bed of the North fork branch of the South Yuba. Eight miles below, it is joined by the waters of the South fork branch of the South Yuba. Fifteen miles from the outlet of the lake is the dam belonging to the Miner’s Ditch Company, where water is carried off to supply the Dutch Flat mines. Below this dam is the large dam of the South Yuba Canal Co. Still further down on the bed of the river are the dams of the Omega Ditch Co., and of the Blue Tent Co. The S. Yuba Canal Co. has the prior or oldest right and other ditch companies can use the water only when there is a surplus, At the Yuba Dam the water is taken off by means of a canal which does not follow the course of the river, but passes through Bear Valley. Ata distance of one and a half miles below the dam is the Dutch Flat ditch. The big tunnel through which the main ditch passes is situated at the head of Deer Creek and is one and a half miles long. At this point two ditches branch off, one towards Chalk Bluff on the East, and the other towards Blue Tent. The water in the main ditch is here allowed to run in the bed of Deer Creek, a distance of five miles, where it is again taken up and conveyed by canal. At this point, Cascade Ditch branches off and furnishes water to Quaker Hill and Hunt’s Hill. Two and a half miles down Deer Creek are the VFlume and the V-Flume mill. Here a portion of the water is carried down the V-Flume to Town Talk and thence to Grass Valley, while waste and surplus water finds its way down Deer Creek. The course of the main ditch is traversed by a complete network of smaller ones. At every point on the South Yuba Canal, where a ditch branches off, men are stationed for the purpose of tending to the gates, and distributing the supply of water in accordance with the demands. It was necessary to draw itoffinto the other ditches and store it in the reservoirs when one or more mining camps wanted no more water for a short time. These men are under the direction of the superintendent who had to contact them by letter until the invention of the telephone. Before that time, water would be running to waste for a day or two before his order to turn it in some other direction could be forwarded to the ditch tender.’’ Although the end of the South Yuba Canal Company came with its sale in 1880, the storage and dispensing of water continued under various company names, the South Yuba Water and Mining Company, the Sovth Yuba Water Company, the California Gas and Electric Company, and finally the mammoth Pacific Gas and Electric Company. Although hydraulic mining declined after 1884, the need for irrigation to agricultural areas, and hydro-