Apr. 25, 2003 - 19:41 MDT

THE WONDERING JEW

Local History - Some

At least a bit of history. Ran into an article by Dr. Colorado - Tom Noel who teaches at CU-Denver branch of Colorado University. I have several of his books, one of which deals with the seamy side of life in early Denver.

His article starts, "Long before it became the Queen City, Mile High City, World Class City, The site of Denver lay on a map under big black letters that read: "Great American Desert."

Named so by Major Stephen H. Long who conducted the first scientific survey of the South Platte River Valley and what is now metro Denver. Dr. Tom says Long's 1819 - 1820 expedition of naturalists, topographers and artists ranks with the Lewis and Clark Expedition for making known the previously unknown.

One of Long's men Botanist Dr. Edwin James, pronounced today's Colorado Front Range as "Almost wholly unfit for cultivation, and of course uninhabitable by people depending upon agriculture for subsistence. The scarcity of wood and water, almost uniformly prevalent, will prove an insuperable obstacle in the way of settling this country. . . . ." Another of the group Captain John R. Bell kept a journal. In it on July 4,1820, while camped near the current site of Denver, he wrote that it was, "An extensive barren prairie almost as sterile as the deserts of Arabia."

Mark Twain in his book "Roughing It," who observed the South Platte River as, "A melancholy stream straggling through the center of the enormous flat plain . . . . The Platte is 'up' they said -- which makes me wish I could see it when it was down, if it could look any sicker and sorrier."

But those early people noted not the huge mountain ranges capped with snow to the west and the water coming to town if it could be so directed.

Remembering Denver as a boy, especially during the Dust Bowl days the description pretty well fit. If one got out of the neighborhood east of town that is what it was, desert, sand burrs, sagebrush and jackrabbits with scattered prairie dog towns. There were a few ranches with suffering animals and a few scraggly farms, but not many of either.

That excuse for a river that meandered through then was harnessed by early pioneer watermen and diverted for the most part to holding lakes near town, thence to the water treatment facilities and piped to the city. Not all flow of the South Platte went there. Much of the rest of it fed the truck gardens around town and farms further out until it joined the North Platte in Nebraska on its way to the Missouri, I think.

When I was a kid there were little ditches near the curbs that carried water for gardening. Drinking water was piped to houses though. Even as a child I marveled at the trees lining the streets, the shrubbery and lawns, flowers. Beyond my imagination at my young age how there could be enough water to grow stuff and still have drinking water.

As time went on the "brains" devised ways to bring water to Denver from the Western Slope of the Rocky Mountains to keep up with the growing population, and water was free, no water meters on the houses. In about 1990 Denver installed water meters on each outlet to a house. Prior to that time though it was observed by the experts that sometimes in the warm months of the year our reservoirs would run dry unless use was controlled. So the method of even and odd days started, houses with even numbered addresses watered one time and the odds another. The number of days watering were stated too, and this year the amount of time allowed to water will be restricted. Some of our suburbs are even worse off than we are.

Our town is known for its beautiful trees, gardens, parks and parkways because those early engineers devised ways to get water to the people occupying this desert.

Since metering came in I have noted there are some lawns browning up badly my guess is that there are people who really don't care and others that can't afford the cost of the water.

I am not sure how things will go from here on. Houses, town homes, condos and apartments have been filling every empty space in the area, houses in town are "Pop topping" old one story houses are having additional stories put up. The need for water is of course, escalating and we have to fight for every drop as it is. Wonder why the city fathers did not, long ago institute heavy control on construction ? I think maybe developers money has found its way to bottomless pockets. Why else ?

Saw something in Bunt Sign by Michael Parlee the other day that whopped me right in the middle of the face. He wrote, "Absolutes and certainties are for preachers, pundits and politicians." Hah, I heard a joke once, "Only fools are positive," a man says, "Are sure of that ?" and the dummy says, "Oh yes, I am positive." I don't qualify for any of those three lines of work though, but often am absolutely positive, and loudmouthed about it until someone brings me back to reality.

Here there is Local History - Some . . . . . . . . .

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