Kings County, CA History

Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

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History of Tulare and Kings Counties, California - History by Eugene L. Menefee 
and Fred A. Dodge - Historic Record Company - Los Angeles, California, 1913
CHAPTER XXIII
IRRIGATION
 
    The history of irrigation in Kings county dates back to 1872, when its 
present territory constituted a part of Tulare county. The lesser benefits of 
irrigation had been demonstrated by private parties in different parts of Tulare 
county, who made efforts to get water from the rivers out to their orchards and 
gardens on a very limited scale. But these primary efforts were all sufficient 
to prove the magic effect of irrigation on the rich desert soil which had lain 
dormant through the embalming summer sunshine of past centuries. Eager settlers 
were rushing into the country and when they saw what water put to the soil would 
do; when they saw the prolific streams of Kings river, Kaweah river and Cross 
creek sweeping down to the basin of Tulare lake; and when they cast their eyes 
eastward and upward to the illimitable fields of snow and ice cradled among the 
stupendous heights of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, the object lesson was 
easy. Nature's mighty resources lay plainly before them, offering the first 
grand inspiration for organized effort to harness these resources for the 
reclamation of the desert.
    The first successful attempt to irrigate on practical and extended lines was 
made in 1872, by M. D. Bush, V. F. Geiseler, R. B. Huey and a number of other 
citizens, who projected the Lower Kings River ditch, covering territory north 
and east of the town of Lemoore. This ditch company was incorporated in 1873 by 
the enterprising pioneers of Lemoore and vicinity and its success was an object 
lesson that inspired the settlers of adjoining districts. When the people saw 
what water applied to the soil would do, there was a firm resolve to get it at 
all hazards. The first crops raised on lands irrigated by this ditch furnished 
labor for many hard-up settlers and the straw from the grain fields was largely 
used as fodder for the stock of the country which proved a God-send to many a 
"Sandlapper."
    Soon after the above company had demonstrated probable success an 
enterprising citizen named Daniel Spangler planned to build an irrigating canal 
from Kings river to what was known as the Lone Oak district, which was 
designated by a single oak tree standing out on the plains about four miles 
southwest of the present city of Hanford. From this "Lone Oak" to the point 
where Mr. Spangler intended to tap Kings river to supply his canal with water 
was a distance of about twenty miles. Later the People's Ditch Company of Kings 
river was formed by an association of farmer settlers which took over by mutual 
transfer the Spangler projects. The People's Ditch Company was incorporated in 
February, 1873, by Jesse Brown, W. W. Boyd, George W. Camp, C. Hyatt, Peter 
Kanawyer, and a score or more of other settlers all eager to be identified with 
the great work of transforming their desert acres into homes of future 
productiveness and wealth. The actual work of making the ditch was commenced 
that year and proceeded as rapidly as possible considering limited means of its 
incorporators. F. J. Sibley was the engineer who located and surveyed the course 
of the ditch nearly on its present permanent line. It was first intended to 
build one branch of the ditch into Township 21 south range 20 east, but said 
branch was never completed beyond the south boundary line of township 18 South, 
range 21 east, a short distance from Armona.   The season of 1874 found between 
three and four miles of the ditch constructed and this was from the point of 
intake on the river to a point below the structure known as the "Burris check." 
Very little irrigating was done that season. During the months of May and June 
of that year the water from Kings river ran through the old channel known as the 
Burris slough, southeasterly into Cross creek. During the fall and winter of 
1874-5 work was prosecuted quite rapidly, so that in the spring of 1875 the 
company was able to control and distribute systematically considerable water to 
its stockholders for the irrigation of crops. When the water was turned into the 
lower portion of the ditch, considerable difficulty was experienced in getting 
it through on account of the porous nature of the soil. It frequently happened 
that forty to fifty cubic feet per second would flow for days into subterranean 
cavities. This would so soften the ground, sometimes for a half mile, that it 
was dangerous to drive a team over the field near the ditch. At the end of the 
irrigating season of 1875 it was found that the ditch was far from being 
completed according to the plans and specifications of the engineer. In places 
it was not down to grade and in other places not up to grade and in very few 
places of the width originally proposed. The company was first incorporated for 
$10,000, but this amount was soon found to be inadequate to complete the great 
undertaking. Under existing laws assessments on the stockholders could not be 
collected in sums large enough to complete the work in a reasonable time. So the 
capital stock was increased to $30,000 in 1875; this latter sum not being equal 
to the demands, the same was increased to $100,000. After the struggles, 
privations and great self-denials of  sturdy pioneers the ditch was finally 
completed as it now exists, about the year 1878 or 1879. During the early years 
of the work assessments were called for so frequently that many of the 
stockholders were unable to meet them and their stock had to be sold for the 
assessments. The whole number of shares of capital stock issued was subscribed 
for and the assessments kept up for a while, but prior to 1881 more than 
one-third of the stock issued was sold for assessments and bought in for the 
company, because no one living in the country on land covered by the ditch at 
that time had money to buy the stock. In 1912 the total number of shares 
outstanding and which have not varied for twenty-five years, is sixty-three and 
thirteen-sixteenths shares. These shares are now held by more than two hundred 
persons. The largest number of shares now owned by one person is not over five, 
except that the Settlers Ditch Company now owns sixteen and one-half shares. 
About 1890, shortly after the passage through the state legislature of what was 
known as the Wright Irrigation Bill providing for the creation of irrigation 
disricts throughout the state, the Tulare Irrigation District was formed and its 
promotors bought from the Settlers Ditch Company its right to take water from 
the Cross creek and floated its point of diversion to a point on Kaweah river 
about ten miles northeast of Visalia. Thus having sold its water right, the 
Settlers Ditch Company purchased from the Peoples Ditch Company the sixteen and 
one-twelfth shares of stock to re-supply its ditch. The advantage resulting from 
the change was that the stockholders of the Settlers Ditch Company were able to 
have water for irrigation for a longer season each year.
    In the early '90s the Riverside Ditch Company was incorporated for the 
purpose of appropriating water from Kings river and for taking it from a point 
just above the lower head-gate in the Peoples ditch. This ditch extends westerly 
along the south bank of Kings river for a distance of about ten miles and 
supplies water for irrigation to several thousand acres of rich land lying south 
of Kings river. It operates as an auxiliary factor to the Peoples ditch, many of 
the latter's stockholders owning stock in the Riverside ditch and many land 
owners along the Riverside ditch renting water from stockholders of Peoples 
ditch.
 
SETTLERS DITCH
    In June, 1874, an association of farmers organized the Settlers Ditch 
Company, with the intention of supplying mostly a tract of land in township 18 
south, range 22 east, being east and northeast of Hanford. Major Thomas J. 
McQuiddy, George W. Cotton, C. O. Butler, George Slight, J. M. Cary, Jeremiah 
Lambert, Orrin Jeffords, J. W. Brown, Alex Taylor, John Urton, Joe Perrin, Ely 
Bock, C. H. Robinson, Jack Wickham, were the leading men in promoting the 
interests of this enterprise and incorporating it under the state laws of 
California. William R. McQuiddy was the first secretary, Attorney W. W. Cross 
wrote the articles of incorporation. The new company bought instruments for 
surveying and William R. McQuiddy acted as surveyor for the preliminary work of 
locating the ditch head at the mouth of Cross creek, after which John S. Urton 
took charge of the engineering and made definite location of the ditch lines and 
staked them out ready for the construction gangs, composed of the stockholders 
who worked on different sections of the ditch as apportioned by the management. 
Actual work in excavating was begun in the fall of 1874 and proceeded under 
difficulties through the winter and spring of 1875. Hard pan was found at the 
upper end of the works, which necessitated a raise in the grade, this calling 
for a dam or weir in Cross creek to elevate the water supply to the new grade of 
the ditch. It was also found necessary to make a cut two miles above from this 
channel across to Main stream so as to insure water at all times when there was 
water therein.  This cut was 1600 feet long and in places had to be cut down 
through hardpan. On December 1, 1875, the ditch was practically completed as far 
south as the county road running east from the north line of the city of 
Hanford. The water was turned into the ditch about December 1, and the 
stockholders began to use it on their lands with great rejoicing over their 
deliverance from the arid conditions of the past. To celebrate this important 
event a meeting was called at the Eureka schoolhouse. Nearly every person in the 
community was present, and the good cheer and enthusiasm of all told the story 
of their triumph over the adverse conditions through which they had passed. One 
of the principal actors in this celebration was Lyman B. Ruggles, who had bought 
out George W. Cotten a few months previous. The speechmaking, the songs composed 
for the occasion, and the banquet of the best eatables that the country then 
afforded, made this celebration a very enjoyable one for all. Memory turns back 
from these days of plenty to those days of salt grass, bacon and beans, with so 
little money, and such a scarcity of credit, and wonders how in the world they 
ever accomplished such herculean tasks. It was surely a journey through the 
wilderness, without grain or hay for horse-feed, simply salt grass, and very 
meager food for men. What was true of the brave men who builded the Settlers' 
ditch was true of all the other pioneers who from 1872 and later built the other 
ditches which now carry the living water to their luxuriant homesteads. The 
Lower Kings river, the Peoples' Ditch, the Last Chance, and the Lakeside 
Companies were all manned by men of splendid courage, great endurance and a 
sublime faith that sustained them and led them on in the face of all kinds of 
hardships and privations to ultimate success. This history may not give every 
name entitled to credit for the early development of Kings county soil, because 
they may not all be recalled to memory, but those not named are no less 
deserving a place in the record of a righteous service to mankind.
 
THE LAST CHANCE
    In 1873 the Last Chance Ditch Company was formed to take water from Kings 
river to supply the rich lands in the vicinity of Grangeville. The system was 
about completed in one season and proved very successful to the territory for 
which it was intended. The first board of directors of the Last Chance consisted 
of William L. Morton (chairman), William Ingram, C. W. Hackett, O. H. Bliss, J. 
R. Heinlen, Justin Esrey, L. Gilroy (secretary), J. G. Moore, George Smith, 
(surveyor), G. H. Hackett, L. Waggner, G. S. Foster, G. T. Thornton, M. S. 
Babcock, W. A. Caruthers, O. L. Wilson, W. R. Sullenger, John Kurts, E. 
Erlanger, L. Lowery, John Martin, W. H. Whitesides, William Sutherland, Lewis 
Haas, Jonathan Esrey, James Sibley, Perry Phillips, George W. Cody, E. Giddings, 
J. H. Shore, A. S. Ayers, C. Railsback, E. M. Cleveland, Jesse Brown, W. W. 
Parlin, C. M. Blowers, John Chambers were among the sturdy pioneers and 
stockholders of the Last Chance enterprise who plowed and scraped on beans and 
bacon that the desert might bloom as a blessed heritage for future generations.
    In the year 1874 the Lakeside Ditch Company was organized, but did not get 
to doing much until 1875, when it built a canal thirty feet wide and three feet 
deep to cover the unirrigated lands southeast and south of Hanford. The company 
appropriated three hundred and one cubic feet per second from Cross creek, a 
branch of Kaweah river. The first board of directors consisted of Robert Doherty 
Samuel F. Deardorff, C. W. Clark, George A. Dodge, Perry C. Phillips, J. 
Whiting, Jacob Marsh. Other members and stockholders of the company who were 
identified in the promotion and actual construction of the Lakeside were : 
Claude Giddings, George W. Clute, William Kerr, William Covert, John Rourke, 
Thomas McCarty, Patrick McCarty, John McCarty, E. J. Dibble, E. McNamee; S. D. 
Brewer, Joseph Peacock, Andrew Blend, W. H. Winnie, A. M. Stone, Simon Stone, 
John Sigler, R. S. Wait, Oscar Clapp, J. C. Rice, E. P. Irwin, J. G. Herriford, 
David Dodge, Caryl Church, Henry Hildebrand, George McCann, M. A. Hill, George 
Doherty, William Doherty, John Smith, James McClellan, Frank McClellan, J. T. 
Gurnsey, E. Twinning, C. B. Dodge, L. C. Hawley, William H. Dodds, J. V. Dodds. 
The Lakeside ditch serves a large district, which is largely devoted to dairy 
and stock interests.
    Some years later Carr and Chamberlain built a canal to cover a fine tract of 
land formerly lake bottom on the north side of Tulare lake. This canal is served 
by water from the Peoples' ditch and hence is not a primary factor, but simply 
an extension of the irrigation system.
 
LAKELAND CANAL AND IRRIGATION COMPANY
    In the year 1903 the above named company was formed with the intention of 
appropriating water from Kings river a few hundred yards above the Peoples' 
Ditch Company's point of intake. The leading men in its organization were Dr. N. 
P. Duncan, J. Frank Pryor, Dr. R. E. Dixon, J. D. McCord. The project 
contemplated the irrigation of lands about the present city of Corcoran and 
those lake bottom lands then and thereafter to be reclaimed. The operations of 
the company have been held in abeyance on account of litigation so that its 
prospective good results have not yet been realized. R. D. Hunter, E. E. Bush, 
F. C. Paulin, Stoddard Jess, C. W. Gates, A. H. Brawley are the more recent 
promoters and custodians of the company's interests. The final success of the 
undertaking means much to a large area of very fertile land south and east of 
Tulare lake.
 
BLAKELEY DITCH
    In the spring of 1899 F. Blakeley, H. Clauson, Max Lovelace, R. E. McKenna, 
Jack Rhodes and Stiles McLaughlin associated themselves together for the 
promotion of what is commonly called the Blakeley ditch, contemplating the 
irrigation of a tract of fine land west and northwest of Tulare lake. The 
company appropriated 100,000 inches of water from Kings river at a point about 
one-half mile below the lower bridge. After three miles of canal had been 
constructed, Mr. Blakeley on his own account extended the system so that its 
ditches measured thirty-eight miles.
    The Empire Water Company was created to distribute water over the lands of 
the rich district known as the Empire ranch. Also the Mercedes Pumping Company 
was formed prospectively to water land west of Kings river.
 
THE KINGS CANAL AND IRRIGATION COMPANY
    This company was promoted by Henry Cousins, Hi Clauson, Frank Blakeley, Max 
Lovelace, Stiles McLaughlin, a Mr. Ogle and others about the year 1900 and 
contemplated the irrigation of lands east of Kings river and north of Tulare 
lake as well as future lands reclaimed by the receding of the lake. It is 
supplied by the same appropriation of the waters from Kings river and served by 
the same dam as the Blakeley ditch and in fact is twin to the latter named 
ditch. It is about one hundred feet wide in places and the system embraces about 
twenty-eight miles of ditch.
 
RAINFALL FOR TWENTY-ONE YEARS
The history of a locality would not be complete without containing a record of 
those "heavenly blessings" furnished by the weather god. Herewith is presented 
an authentic rain table kept since 1891, showing the measurement of rain by the 
month, as gauged at Hanford:
Year 1891-92�June, 0.00; July, 0.00; August, 0.00 ; September, .52 ; October, 
0.00 ; November, .40 ; December, 1.92 ; January, .41; February, .99 ; March, 
2.27; April, .19 ; May, 1.26 ; total annual, 7.96.
Year 1892-93-June, 0.00; July, 0.00; August, 0.00; September, 0.00; October, 
.26; November, .38; December, 1.46; January, 2.83; February, 1.22 ; March, 2.53 
; April, .13 ; May, 0.00 ; total annual, 8.81.
Year 1893-94-June, 0.00 ; July, 0.00 ; August, 0.00 ; September, 0.00; October, 
.02; November, 20; December, 1.34; January, .87; February, .40 ; March, .33 ; 
April, .09 ; May, .20 ; total annual, 3.45.
Year 1894-95-June, .72; July, 0.00 ; August, 0.00 ; September, .53 ; October, 
.25 ; November, 0.00 ; December, 3.00 ; January, 2.79 ; February, .97; March, 
.96 ; April, .50 ; May, .38 ; total annual, 10.10.
Year 1895-96-June, 0.00 ; July, 0.00 ; August, 0.00 ; September, 0.00 ; October, 
1.05 ; November, 0.00 ; December, .35 ; January, 1.70 ; February, 0.00 ; March, 
.55 ; April, 76 ; May, .15 ; total annual, 4.56.
Year- 1896-97-June, .0.00 ; July, .11; August, .02 ; September, 0.00; October, 
.61; November, .72; December, .68; January, 1.56; February, 1.86 ; March, .11; 
April, .95 ; May, 0.00 ; total annual, 6.62.
Year-1897-98-June, 0.00 ; July, 0.00 ; August, 0.00 ; September, 0.00 ; October, 
1.80 ; November, .21; December, .48 ; January, .38 ; February, .89 ; March, .03 
; April, 91; May, .41; total annual, 5.11.
Year-1898-99-June, 0.00 ; July, 0.00 ; August, 0.00 ; September. 1.44; October, 
.11; November, .08; December, .75; January, 1.04; February, .17 ; March, 30; 
April, 2.66 ; May, .26 ; total annual, 6.81.
Year-1899-00-June, .26 ; July, 0.00 ; August, 0.00 ; September, 0.00 ; October, 
.96 ; November, 1.18 ; December, 1.23 ; January, 1.61; February, 0.00 ; March, 
1.26 ; April, 1.33 ; May, 2.27 ; total annual, 10.10.
Year-1900-01-June, 0.00; July, 0.00; August, 0.00; September, 0.00 ; October, 
.25 ; November, 2.21; December, .22 ; January, 3.30 ; February, 2.82 ; March, 
.67.; April, .27 ; May, 1.39 ; total annual, 11.13.
Year-1901-02-June, 0.00; July, 0.00; August, 0.00; September. .57; October, .51; 
November, .80 ; December, .24 ; January, .40 ; February, 2.17 ; March, 1.43; 
April, .50 ; May, .08 ; total annual, 6.70.
Year-1902-03-June, 0.00 ; July, 0.00 ; August, 0.00 ; September, 0.00 ; October, 
.32 ; November, 1.52 ; December, .63 ; January, 1.28 ; February, .57; March, 
1.76 ; April, .80 ; May, 0.00 ; total annual, 6.88.
Year-1903-04-June, 0.00; July, 0.00; August, 0.00; September, 0.00 ; October, 
.05; November, .32 ; December, .13 ; January, .56 ; February, 2.15 ; March, 3.07 
; April, .36 ; May, 0.00 ; total annual, 6.64.
Year-1904-05-June, 0.00; July, 0.00; August, 0.00; September, 2.00 ; October, 
.74; November, 0.00 ; December, 1.24 ; January, 1.45 ; February, 1.16 ; March, 
2.20 ; April, .48 ; May, 1.05 ; total annual, 10.32.
Year-1905-06-June, 0.00 ; July, 0.00 ; August, 0.00 ; September, 0.00 ; October, 
0.00 ; November, 1.37 ; December, .41; January, 1.81; February, 1.54; March, 
4.77; April, .76; May, 1.76; total annual, 12.42.
Year-1906-07-June, 0.00 ; July, 0.00 ; August, 0.00 ; September, 0.00; October, 
0.00 ; November, .39 ; December, 3.49 ; January, 3.51; February, .67; March, 
2.39 ; April, .32; May, 0.00 ; total annual, 10.77.
Year-1907-08-June, 0.00 ; July, 0.00 ; August, 0.00 ; September, 0.00 ; October, 
.68; November, 0.00 ; December, 1.74 ; January, 1.92 ; February, 3.03; March, 
0.00; April, 0.00; May, .56 ; total annual, 7.93.
Year-1908-09-June, 0.00; July, 0.00 ; August, 0.00; September, .91; October, 
0.00 ; November, .66; December, .31; January, 4.35 ; February, 3.21; March, 1.66 
; April, 0.00 ; May, .15 ; total annual, 11.25
Year-1909-10-June, 0.00 ; July, 0.00 ; August, 0.00 ; September, 0.00; October, 
.19 ; November, 1.57; December, 2.56; January, 1.87 ; February, .08; March, 
1.47; April, .05 ; May, .24; total annual, 8.03.
Year-1910-11-June, 0.00; July, 0.00 ; August, 0.00 ; September, 1.51; October, 
.30 ; November, .23; December, .72 ; January, 3.37; February, 1.46 ; March, 
2.94; April, 0.00 ; May, .50 ; total annual, 11.03.
Year-1911-12-June, 0.00 ; July, 0.00 ; August, 0.00 ; September, .04; October, 
.09 ; November, .23; December, .55; January, .51; February, .02 ; March, 3.15 ; 
April, .27; May, 1.52 ; total annual, 6.38.