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Sources and Additional Information

Source(s); The Salton Sea Menace by Edwin Duryea Jr. from Out West Magazine Vol XXIV, No 1 - Jan 1906 p. 15, 16; Statement of C R Rockwood - In the Matter of the Liability of the California Development Company for the Flooding of Salton Basin by Charles Rockwood - 1907 p. 24; The Possibilities of Salton Sea from Popular Science Monthly - Volume 70 by Charles Alma Byers - 1907 p. 13; Irrigation in Imperial Valley California Its Problems and Possibilities by C. E. Tait - 1908 p. 45, 47; Born of the Desert - Imperial Valley in Its Making, not a Dream; A Brief History of the California Development Company by Charles Rockwood - from The Calexico Chronicle Second Annual Magazine Edition - May 1909 p. 26; The Story of the First Decade in Imperial Valley, California by Edgar F. Howe and Wilbur Jay Hall - 1910 p. 106; The Imperial Valley and the Salton Sink by Harry Thomas Cory with Introductory Monograph by William Phipps Blake - 1915 p. 1294, 1297, 1301-1302; The Salton Sea - An Accounting of Harriman's Fight with the Colorado River by George Kennan - 1917 p. 50; The First Thirty Years 1901 - 1931 - An Accounting of the Principal Events in the History of Imperial Valley, Southern California, U.S.A. by Otis B. Tout - 1931 p. 102; Imperial Irrigation District - The First 40 Years by M. J. Dowd - 1956 p. 33

Image(s); Canal congested with water from the Colorado River after five unsuccessful attempts at channeling the river, ca.1903 taken by Charles C. Pierce from the UCS (University of Southern California) Libraries and the California Historical Society

Note(s); It is not evident why this photograph was titled as it was, but it is clear that given a canals purpose is to conduct water, finding one 'congested' with water would simply demonstrate the canal is operating normally.  Perhaps it was meant to be titled:  'Canal congested with silt from the Colorado River after five unsuccessful attempts at channeling the river, ca.1903'.  But even that isn't accurate as the picture shows the Lower Mexican Heading during a period in 1905 when it was being scoured by the currents and getting wider and deeper, not 'congested'.  A more proper title would be; View Looking Across the Colorado River to the Lower Mexican Heading, Created Because Silt Deposit from the Colorado River Clogged Main Channel of Alamo / Imperial Canal.  The date is also incorrect as the attempts to close the heading took place in 1905 and the Lower Mexican Heading wasn't dug until 1904.  Additionally, the description is also inaccurate and would better be described as follows; Photograph of the Lower Mexican Heading (Intake # 3) that connected to the Imperial / Alamo Canal.  The break in the river bank, known as a heading, was the path that water from the Colorado River took on its journey to the Salton Sink and created the Salton Sea.  The remains of several pilings can be seen in the photograph that are the remnants of failed efforts to close the heading.  A dense grouping of trees can be seen on the far bank.

Different sources apply various numbering schemes when describing the attempts to dam the Lower Mexican Heading.  We have very carefully examined each source and compared it to others and applied the most accurate numbering scheme to date.  For a summary of the various attempts that were made to close the heading please read this; Attempts to Dam and Close the Lower Mexican Intake.  The Edinger Dam was attempt number 5 at Site number 4, located across the west channel of the Colorado River between the west bank, a couple hundred feet north of the Lower Mexican Heading and Disaster Island, a couple hundred feet south of the tip of the island. One book (Irrigation in Imperial Valley California Its Problems and Possibilities by C. E. Tait - 1908 p. 47) refers to this barrier dam as the Toland Dam, but no other sources refer to this name and instead call it the Edinger Dam.

Oct 1905 is Attempt #5 at Location #4

Additional information from: Wikipedia

 

Additional information from: Wikipedia

 

Additional information from: Wikipedia

 

Additional information from: Google Books

 

Additional information from: Calisphere - Univerisy of California

 

Additional information from: Google Books

 

Additional information from: Google Books

 

Additional information from: Google Books

 

Additional information from: Google Books

 

Additional information from: Google Books

 

Additional information from: Google Books

 

Additional information from: Google Books

 

Additional information from: IID (Imperial Irrigation District)
Note; No copyright claim is made by the publisher on this document as it appears to be made available to the public in general.

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Life of the Salton Sea