Volume 7 , Issue 34

Vallecito (Pine River) Dam...

[SW Colorado -- Vallecito Lake photo view of Vallecito Resort, 2004, looking NW from SE corner of the Vallecito Dam] -- The news was on the horizon of a major development that would change this quiet wilderness valley forever.

In the mid-1920's, news shocked the people in this great valley. A Dam was going to be built. A reservoir would displace some of the ranchland in the bottom of the valley. If this happened, life at Vallecito would never be the same.

It was after the mining years at Vallecito, the population was holding steady. The High Country's melted snow was heading downstream and causing the Vallecito and Pine Rivers to overflow. Water was not a problem in the Spring and Early Summer. The late Summers in dry years, farmers crops would be burning up in the sun when no irrigation water was left in the ditches.

There was an influx of white settlers (farmers, ranchers) who needed water for irrigating crops. Also, it was becoming a critical issue. The US government moved Southern Ute Indians to the reservation on the lower Pine River Valley. They needed water.

The 1868 Treaty between the government and Utes was basis for the Utes to have first priority water rights. There was a Colorado water law, which was established first in Eastern Colorado -- the first persons to put water to beneficial use were the first in line in the chain of water users. The ranchers put in irrigation ditches, but didn't have water flowing.

One year "Buckskin Charlie" brought his tribe clear up to Columbus bridge area to find water to carry back to the reservation.

In October 1911 a flood washed out part of Bayfield. After June and September floods in 1927 did their damage of washing out bridges, it was agreed that something needed to be done.

Ranchers, Farmers and Utes decided to work together on a solution to the water shortage and the flooding. A Dam would solve all those problems and help control the flooding on the Upper & Lower Pine River Valley.

After years of studies, meetings, a Pine River Valley delegation worked to reach top officials of the government and negotiated the Pine River Project that was drawn and signed on June 17, 1937 by President Franklin Roosevelt. It was also the tail end of the Great Depression and meant jobs for the local people.

The Bureau of Reclamation was in charge of planning and building the project. They secured title for lands from present owners. Not all landowners were pleased to have land taken from them, but they went along and accepted government offers of payment.

Charlie Dunsworth was a holdout and the government eventually took part of his land by "right of condemnation." Sullivans, Deckers and Dunsworth's owned most of land needed. Other owners were Pearsons, Wilmers, Oberts and Curries.

The Bureau awarded a contract for logging timber from the dam and lake site to Western Lumber Company. 5 million feet of timber (logscale, merchantable timber) was to be removed. It was done in 1000 days.

The Martin Wunderlich Company was awarded dam construction which was estimated to take 3-years to complete. They arrived on site May 1938 -- setting up offices, schools and cabins -- where Vallecito Resort is now.

The Bureau of Reclamation set up its offices and cabins on the west side of the road. Some cabins were used for CCC (Civilian Conservation Core) camps at the northend of the valley and were moved to the area used for new government employees.

Wunderlich Company established a employment office to aid local labor. A special patrol was established to keep out outside men. Special Deputy Sheriff Norman Young's duty was to explain to outsiders that local men were given available jobs. Wunderlich employed 75 men by the end of May. More men were hired and employee housing and cabins were thrown together to accomodate the workers. The meadow around Red Creek took on the appearance of a small village.

The road from Bayfield to Vallecito was merely a narrow dirt road. It was determined it would never stand up to the weight of the heavy equipment. So contracts to build roads were needed. There was a huge old pine tree, which the previous road had been built around, had to be removed from the middle of the road. The curve straightened out by Black Dog Corner to make way for big machines.

Besides dam workers, there were those who put together a grocery store, a liguor store, a dance and gambling hall. AND... even rumors of a house of ill-repute. Tom Marshall put together the Grocery & Liquor Store. Bill Miller & Bill Orchard ran a dance & gambling hall. Some workers provided meat and supplies to contractors camps. Reed & Lucy Hammond opened a little restaurant close to the worker's camps. There were also two schools below the Dam: one for grades 1-4; one for grades 5-8. They eventually combined into one.

The Cole brothers started the Vallecito Transportation Line that carried workers from Ignacio and Bayfield to the Dam site. There was also a Bus that started at Durango and came to Vallecito by way Florida Road.

The Dam took 3,738,000 cubic yards of crushed stone and earth to finish the Dam structure. 345,000 pounds of steel was hauled from Ignacio to Vallecito. The gravel and rock was taken from the NW end of the valley, close to the Vallecito campground. The Dam stretched over 4000 feet across, 162 feet high. The width at the top is 35 feet. The base width is 900 feet at the thickest point. The reservoir's capacity is 129,700 acre-feet and covers 2720 acres.

Some of the old irrigation ditches put in by the earlier ranchers didn't survive their watery graves, though. BUT... the Patrick Ditch built around 1885 did survive and continues to wind its way from Grimes Creek to supply surrounding areas with water. Many more ditches were built.

The Vallecito Dam (a.k.a Piner River Dam) was completed in 1941 with 7000 people at the dedication ceremony. Carl Goshorn was the first security guard and lived in the first government cabin. It wasn't until January 16, 1983, that farmers & ranchers paid the government the final payment on the debt occurred in the 1938 construction of the Vallecito Dam.

The Vallecito Lake is here because the "Old-Time" farmers, ranchers and the Ute people had the foresight and exerted tremendous effort to get it accomplished. There is ONLY one road in and out of the Vallecito Lake area.

Let's NOT loose this beautiful, quiet, mountain valley wilderness retreat & lake to over-crowding and golf courses! Do Deer, Elk, Mountain Lions and Bears play golf?   |  View or Add Comments (2 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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