The earliest published history of California's Imperial Valley, an 8,000 square mile region located in the southern part of the Colorado Desert. Documenting the pioneer period in the Valley's history, which roughly corresponds with the first decade of the 20th century, Howe and Hall provide abundant details concerning the irrigation project directed by Charles Rockwood and George Chaffey that turned part of the desert into rich agricultural and residential lands. Also includes information on Valley's history before modern settlement, the accidental formation of the Salton Sea, and several early settlers.

Excerpt from The Story of the First Decade: In Imperial Valley, California For several years it had been my dream some day to write the romantic history of Imperial Valley, and when the time was drawing near for celebration of the tenth year of the beginning of reclamation, I said to myself: Now I will write 'the Story of the First Decade.' About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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Power and Control in the Imperial Valley examines the evolution of irrigated farming in the Imperial-Mexicali Valley, an arid desert straddling the California–Baja California border. Bisected by the international boundary line, the valley drew American investors determined to harness the nearby Colorado River to irrigate a million acres on both sides of the border. The “conquest” of the environment was a central theme in the history of the valley. Colonization in the valley began with the construction of a sixty-mile aqueduct from the Colorado River in California through Mexico. Initially, Mexico held authority over water delivery until settlers persuaded Congress to construct the All-American Canal. Control over land and water formed the basis of commercial agriculture and in turn enabled growers to use the state to procure inexpensive, plentiful immigrant workers.