Building the Future
(Harpers Ferry Center)

The Curecanti Needle on Morrow Point Reservoir (NPS photo)

THE SEARCH FOR NEW WATER

Settlers along the fertile but thirsty Uncompahgre River undoubtedly eyed the vast rushes of water coursing down the Gunnison River through the inaccessible Black Canyon. If only that wet wealth could be diverted to their valley.

The story goes that a French settler, F. C. Lauzon, who lived along the Uncompahgre during the late nineteenth century, was the first to consider the possibility of watering the lands in his vicinity by means of a diversion tunnel from the Gunnison River. The waters of the Uncompahgre were erratic and his fellow farmers could not trust expanded operations much larger than Lauzon's forty barren acres. No doubt the Frenchman's suggestion stimulated his neighbors' proprietary longing for the "wasted" waters of the Gunnison.

By 1875, irrigation had come into vogue along the Uncompahgre River. Initially, hay was grown for use in nearby mining communities. By 1884 a system of ditches had enlarged water availability to the point where other crops and fruit orchards were coming under cultivation. At this point, however, water resources were being strained and fluctuations in water flow from year to year, coupled with fluctuations in mining productivity, forced periodic hardship on settlers and caused many to abandon the valley. Those who remained hoped that the water of the Gunnison would soon be theirs.

The Bryant railroad survey of 1882-83 may have suggested to some that water diversion was indeed possible. In 1894, Richard Winnerah surveyed a line which lay along the present route of the Gunnison Tunnel. Even Lauzon promoted a local referendum to obtain endorsement for a local fundraising project, but his proposal was rejected. Attempts to interest the state legislature in financing a diversion project failed and some surveyors even offered ridiculously low estimates on the work required to accomplish the job. Delta County Surveyor John A. Curtis took a crew out in 1900 to Red Rock Canyon "to ascertain just the condition which exists with regard to getting water from the Gunnison into this valley."

Supporters of the water diversion tunnel met defeat in 1899 after a difficult struggle with the Twelfth Session of the Colorado legislature. On January 28 of that year, Senator W. S. Buckley introduced Senate Bill No. 310, "for an act to construct, maintain, and operate a state tunnel in Montrose County, Colorado, and for the use of unemployed convicts in constructing the same and making appropriations therefor." The Labor Committee tabled the bill, claiming a lack of funds for such a project and calling the proposal impractical, a word dropped from the final report at the insistence of Senator Buckley.

Disheartened, but not to be undone, sponsors of irrigation continued their efforts to sell the idea to local legislators and Congressmen. Private capitalists were prevailed upon to investigate the potential. One of these was John Masters. Representing financial interests in Utah, he surveyed the possibility of a dam and power plant near Red Rock Canyon to supply electricity to the mines at Ouray. Masters reported to local officials that the project would require an investment of $250,000. The funds were never forthcoming and the prospect fell through.

Morrow Point Reservoir (Victoria Stauffenberg/NPS photo)

As part of his reelection drive of 1900, Senator E. O. Wolcott pledged to introduce a bill in the United States Senate authorizing the construction of irrigation tunnels and canals. This effort was backed up by local representatives Shafroth and Bell. Continued interest in the project was sustained by another survey, the most ambitious to date. In the late summer of 1900, a volunteer group, led by William W. Torrence, later to be called the "Father of the Gunnison Tunnel," set out to explore the length of the Black Canyon below the mouth of the Cimarron. They planned to navigate the full extent of the Gunnison River through the Canyon and at the same time examine the possibility of a diversion tunnel. They hoped to reach Red Rock Canyon in four to five days, but those hopes were dashed as the venture encountered obstacle after obstacle. Moving downstream from the mouth of the Cimarron River, it took the survey party nearly four weeks to negotiate just fifteen miles of the Canyon. The rapids and cascade of water near the spot called the Narrows persuaded the men they could go no farther. They named the section of the gorge and river that defeated them, "Falls of Sorrow," although the name has since been changed to Torrence Falls. After an incredibly difficult climb out of the canyon by way of a steep ravine, they reached Montrose on October 1.

The following year, efforts were renewed to push a water diversion project through the State legislature. Representative Meade Hammond introduced what was called the Gunnison Tunnel bill "to construct, maintain, and operate State Canal No. 3. . . . providing for the sale of water . . ." This time the bill was finally approved with an authorization to appropriate no more than $25,000. The same year the United States Geological Survey commenced to map the area of Vernal Mesa dividing the Uncorapahgre from the Gunnison. By means of contours he was to show the most desirable route for any future diversion tunnel. He also ran three lines across the mesa in an effort to locate the best route for a wagon road. Finally, and most exciting of his decisions, he was to run the Gunnison River beyond the point that stopped the Torrence party.

Fellows' call for a volunteer to accompany him on the trip was immediately answered by Torrence. Discarding the idea of descending to the "Falls of Sorrow'" and beginning where Torrence earlier left off, they proceeded by train to the mouth of the Cimarron and began the trek downstream on August 12. At the Narrows, the two men just decided to gamble and jumped into the swirling water with the waterproof inflatable raft. Both men survived and were carried into calmer waters, where they located a projecting shelf on which they rested for a long time in order to recover their strength. Reaching Red Rock Canyon on August 19, they were given more food supplies and continued downstream, swimming most of the deep channel passage between walls which could not be scaled. Gradually emerging from the canyon into the lower valley of the Gunnison, the party came upon a group of hay makers who fed the two men and assisted them to Delta from where they returned to Montrose.

Curecanti National Recreation Area (Victoria Stauffenberg/NPS photo)

There are a number of popular accounts of both the 1900 and 1901 expeditions. They tend to overdramatize the exploits and in a number of cases seem to confuse one trip with the other. Regardless of differences over detail, the journeys of 1900 and 1901 were hazardous ventures. Despite the difficulties of the second trip, the men were able to survey for a side hill ditch, examine the conformation of the canyon walls, and determine the extent of fall within the gorge. All this information proved to be extremely valuable when the Gunnison tunnel was finally installed.

The success of the Fellows-Torrence expedition may have proven that the Black Canyon was not impassable, but it did not make later expeditions any less hazardous. Fluctuations in the flow of water, changes in temperature, and various unknown conditions always posed a threat to the venturesome. In 1916 the famous Kolb brothers of Grand Canyon had their boats wrecked and were forced to scale a 1700-foot cliff to save their lives. In 1934 a group of Eastern college students negotiated the river passage with little more than inner tubes, thanks to relatively low water. And in 1936 a U. S. Geological Survey team entered the canyon at Red Rock and emerged at Cimarron, traveling the length over ice.

BUILDING A RIVER UNDERGROUND

By the end of 1901, survey work was brought to the point of verifying the feasibility of a diversion tunnel from the Gunnison River to the Valley of the Uncompahgre. A general location for the tunnel was selected and a Board of Control was appointed which was composed of residents from either Delta or Montrose County. The board hired John A. Curtis, a civil engineer from Delta, to determine the final location for the tunnel route. The original route selected by Curtis would have carried the tunnel from the Narrows at the center of the present Monument to the Mancos shale badlands about four miles northeast of Table Mountain. This tunnel would have been three miles long, emptying water into a twelve-mile ditch which would carry the water to the mouth of the Montrose Canal.

On November 21, 1901, work began on the project with the construction of a road from Montrose to the site of the west portal. At the latter location a work camp was constructed and tunneling was begun. With only $25,000 allotted by the State for the project, it was hoped that private solicitation of investment funds could be obtained. When these hopes were dashed, the State's work on the tunnel was abandoned within a year. Someone commented at that point that all anyone got out of the excitement was a "small hole in the ground and some weather-stained machinery to show for it." Actually the Colorado State Engineer reported that the tunnel had been driven some 850 feet, timbered for 350, and included two airshafts.

Cebolla Basin (Matt Johnson/NPS photo)

Fortunately, 1902 witnessed the passage of the Federal Reclamation Act by Congress and the "Gunnison River Diversion," as it was called, was incorporated in that Act. In fact, the diversion project became one of the first five programmed works under the law. In terms of acres to be reclaimed, it ranked fifth; in cost, it ranked third. In response to the plan to employ the existing irrigation ditches, the local residents organized themselves into the "Uncompahgre Valley Water Users' Association." On March 14, 1903, the Secretary of the Interior approved the project after several more Geological Surveys were undertaken, and on June 7, the sum of $2,500,000 from the reclamation fund was set aside for construction purposes. While it was the same year that the Colorado legislature authorized the transfer to the United States of all property and right in State Canal No, 3, it was not until 1906 that title was actually conveyed.

The year 1903 was not one for further construction but rather for continued surveying and mapping. The task was taken up by six survey teams, but the most exciting job was undertaken by Ira W. McConnell, topographer-in-charge, and his team who set out to survey within the canyon at the point projected as the head of the proposed tunnel. The daring venture took the men up and down on ropes off perilous slopes and into treacherous fissures. During that year further studies of the terrain of Vernal Mesa were made preliminary to the installation of a highway to carry building supplies and equipment. A dam was proposed for the Narrows and further hazardous excursions were undertaken.

After all these energies were spent, and perhaps, because of them, the site of the proposed tunnel underwent reconsideration during the winter of 1903-04. McConnell proposed a location for the east portal some five miles east of the Narrows site. The new location was known as the "upper location" or "boat landing location." Strangely enough, this new site was the very one surveyed by Richard Winnerah after his expedition of 1894. It was the one proposed by W. H. Fleming in 1900. Fleming had argued that it would avoid the necessity of building a dam and a series of expensive flumes. A consulting board selected for the purpose of deciding between the two sites determined that the upper location was superior. New surveys were authorized, especially to determine the exact elevation of the east portal site.

On October 5, 1904, bids for the funnel construction opened at Montrose, the contract going to the Taylor-Moore Construction Company of Hillsboro, Texas. The contract was signed early in 1905 and called for a tunnel 30,582 feet long at a cost of $1,008,500.

Surveying was carried out to locate a road between the termini of the tunnel. This road, itself, proved to be something of an engineering feat and, when completed, its segment leading into the gorge could have attracted only the venturesome. he grade of the road as it switchbacked into the canyon sharpened to as much as 23 percent Such steepness was permissible since no loads were expected to come out of the gorge. One author commenting on the hazardous road stated that "4-horse waggons going over it present the appearance of being almost all brakes." The road was the only one to reach the river in a seventy-mile stretch. Today the road has been improved by the Bureau of Reclamation, which uses the route to the river to get to the location for the proposed Crystal Dam to be constructed across the Gunnison just upstream from the east portal. Most of the new road follows the old, but in a few places appears to diverge at points where the old roadbeds can be seen.

View into the Black Canyon above the River Portal to the Gunnison Tunnel. The steep portal road can be seen, lower right, with a covered supply wagon hauling out of the gorge. Date c. 1905. (Bureau of Reclamation photo)

The contractors began excavation on January 11, 1905, but because of unknown conditions and troublesome financial arrangements, the work began almost immediately to fall behind schedule. By May of that year, when the work should have been 15 percent complete, only 5 percent of the job had been accomplished. The contract was suspended and the Reclamation Service assumed the task of completing the project.

The achievement of the construction of the Gunnison tunnel is imposing largely because of the hazardous conditions which had to be met. Shoring and support was difficult because of the extraordinary weight of the water-bearing alluvial clays, sand, and gravel; the seepage in the belts of shale and gravel; the explosiveness of gas pockets; the threat posed by a badly shattered fault zone typified by high temperatures, pressurized hot and cold water, and suffocating carbon dioxide gas; and finally, the hardness of the granite with its many water-bearing seams.

On one occasion the drillers opened a cavern of carbonic gas which drove the workers into staggering confusion. At another time a pressurized stream of water was intercepted which threw gets of water some forty feet into the cavern. The flow was estimated at 25,000,000 gallons a day. At other times, flows of hot water would be encountered which drove temperature and humidity up to unbearable levels. At half-point some shoring gave way, cutting off some thirty men. Fortunately, an air pipe was buried with them and air could be pumped to them for 72 hours while they were being unearthed. Not. all the trapped men survived, however. Six were fatally injured by the rock fall.

Often the river would rise rapidly, following spring and summer downpours, causing a rush of water into the portal and driving the workers out until the pumps could clear the passage. The rains would often wash out the supply road and halt work because of material shortages.

River Portal of the Gunnison Tunnel, May 23, 1909, looking down river. The portal itself is located at the extreme left center. The vehicle adit is about 150 feet downstream from the portal. Further downstream is the conglomeration of shops and powerhouses. The weir or overflow has not yet been constructed. (Bureau of Reclamation photo)

Despite the difficulties and frustrations, work continued. At both portals, power plants were constructed and air compressors, electric generators, and ventilating blowers were installed. Six-ton electric locomotives operated on a 24-inch track pulling cars in and out of the tunnel. The work camp at the River Portal, like the west portal, was originally a tent city, gradually replaced by frame structures covered with tar paper. The narrowness of the canyon at that point required that many of the structures had to be built right on the piles of debris excavated from the tunnel. Much of this debris is still visible today. Large stocks of supplies were stored in the vicinity against those times when the camp would be isolated by road washouts or rock slides. About 140 men were employed at the River Portal, none of them for long. The exhausting and hazardous nature of the job caused a constant turnover of employees, few laboring for more than two weeks. Even relatively high wages could not persuade the men to stay longer on the job.

In late June,1909 the drillers from both ends of the tunnel began to hear the sounds of each other's drilling. Two weeks later, on July 6, the two crews met and the rough bore of the longest tunnel in the United States at that time was completed.

On September 23, 1909, a gala celebration was held at the west portal to mark the official opening of this grand channel. It was attended by President William Howard Taft, who rode a five-coach train from Delta up the Uncompahgre to the portal. A grand program, arranged by the local citizen members of the "Gunnison Tunnel Opening Committee," turned into the "biggest event that ever happened in Montrose." At a signal from the President, gongs began ringing throughout the valley and the head gates were opened, releasing a gush of water from the Gunnison to slake the parched lands of the Uncompahgre.

Actually, the job was far from complete. An intricate system of irrigation canals had to be installed and the finishing touches put to the tunnel. The diversion dam at the River Portal was not complete until 1912, even though water use was begun in 1910. The overall project could not be considered technically complete until 1923 when it was finally transferred to the Uncompahgre Valley Water Users' Association. The members began then to pay back the construction costs in forty annual installments. Total cost was set at $6,715,074, of which half went for tunnel construction.

Vehicle adit at the River Portal of the Gunnison Tunnel. July 2, 1905. (Bureau of Reclamation photo)

Summary and Conclusion: The Gunnison River Diversion Project was significant for several reason. First, it was a spectacular engineering feat in itself, having encountered incredible hazards in tunneling through the depths beneath Vernal Mesa. A longer and larger tunnel had been built in 1871 through the Alps — the Frejus or Mt. Cenis Tunnel, the first of the great Alpine bores. The latter, however, did not encounter the obstacles of the Gunnison Tunnel. Strangely enough, while the hazards of the Gunnison Tunnel were being met, the same severe problems were being encountered in Europe in the famed Simplon Tunnel. The Simplon, finished in 1906, drove through the Alps for almost 13 miles and encountered flooding by both hot and cold water as well as zones of peculiarly high pressures. Second, the diversion project was one of the first five undertakings of the Reclamation Service, making the River Portal a landmark of reclamation history. Third, the road engineered to reach the Gunnison portal is another intriguing feature of the project, although it has been impproved by the Bureau of Reclamation and no longer retains the steepest grades of the original.

The River Portal is located just outside and upstream from the current boundary of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument. It is within the proposed boundary of the Recreation Area and just downstream from the site of the Crystal Dam to be constructed very shortly. The area contains a number of structures, a few of which may date back to the earliest days of the project. The diversion dam stretches across the river and contains, at the south bank, sluice gates enclosed in a concrete structure with the controls in an overhead room. The same is true for the head gates and their controls. Another structure higher on the bank houses a ventilating fan for the tunnel and nearby is a vehicle adit used for access to the tunnel when the water flow is shut down and maintenance crews work on the inside out of season.

           Text from Historic Background Study: Curecanti Recreation Area, Colorado, Benjamin Levy, October 15, 1968

Morrow Point Dam

NPS IRMA Portal

NPS Electronic Technical Information Center

NPGallery

NPS LIBRIS Discovery Portal

Open Parks Network

Internet Archive

HathiTrust

Bureau of Land Management Library

U.S. Forest Service Treesearch

U.S. Geological Survey Publications