Boise High School - Courier Yearbook (Boise, ID)

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Z' '4' 'N 1: 1 - , 4 L3 1 . f 1 . G, 1 , I .I 1 f 1 V 'A J . I i UTCWUT water thunders into the canyon below, sending up great mists, and forming, in the sunlight, myriads of small rainbows-tokens of the plenitude and beauty created in the valley below. Ten miles below the dam the water is diverted into its huge canal, swings out over the desert with many graceful curves, enters the numerous smaller canals and so goes to the dry, fertile soil. Construction of the dam was supervised by A. E. Weyniouth, engineer of the Federal Reclamation Service. The dam was started in 1910 and finished in 1915, at a cost of 55,000,000 It stores 280,000 acre-feet of water. Many have been the changes in Boise Valley because of the drama of irrigation- symbolized by Arrowrock Dam. From a home of the coyote and jackrabbit, terrify- ing in its desolation, the valley has become an exquisite beauty spot of verdant land- scape and productive fields. Trees, waving corn and wheat have replaced sagebrush and greasewoodg bee-haunted alfalfa blossoms have replaced the bunch grass, cows and sheep now chew their cuds in peace where the starving coyotes used to howlg and beautiful homes now stand in place of the tepees of roving Indians and the makeshift cabins of the first settlers. To you, Pioneers, and the magnificent dream of reclamation which is symbolized in Arrowrock Dam, we acknowledge our debt and express our heartfelt gratitude!

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Boise--1368. OIPCCBWVCOJIF' ment to the extent of millions of dollars. However, it may have been this very bold- ness that won success. So Arrowroclc Dam was builtg and it stands as a symbol of the drama of recla- mation. It is as a treasure, holding in reserve a golden store. Seeking a location for the structure, engineers were impressed with the natural possibilities of the present site. It was as though Nature herself, in the dim ages of prehistoric time, made provision for the needs of the coming generations of white settlers. The dam, one of the highest in the world, is located at a narrow point in the canyon of the Boise River, twenty miles above Boise. One of the first and hardest problems of the engineers was how to take care of the water while the dam was being built. VVas the grand dream to be frustrated at the outset by this problem? No! The builders diverted the river through a tunnel under the lava bench at the side of the dam site. The dam itself is a worthy monument to the dreams of these pioneers. It is 351 feet high, and the roadway along its crest is more than a thousand feet long. Excess water falls over the 400-foot spillway, runs swiftly in a turret past the end of the dam and cascades into the 300-foot canyon of Deer Creek, which takes it back to the river. The white spray from this falling water forms a silvery cloud over the canyon. Piercing the heart of the dam are round holes, Hgatesn, through which the water is released as needed. Plunging with breath-taking force through these gates, the

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Printing and Binding by CAPITAL NEWS PUBLISHING COMPANY BOISE, IDAHO K7 Engraving by WESTERN ENGRAVING AND COLORTYPE COMPANY SEATTLE, WASHINGTON T Photography by SIGLER STUDIO BOISE, IDAHO