The History Of Irrigation In Southwest Kansas

Ulysses Historic Adobe Museum

During the spring and summer of 2024, many articles have circulated under titles such as "We're running Out Of Water", "Time For A Reckoning", and "Pending Water Crisis Plaques Western Kansas". Each of these spells out the grim reality of what it has cost the Southwest Kansas region's water supply in an attempt to "Make it Rain" to support agriculture, feedyards, and dairies. But the question for many on the outside is, "How did we get to this point?" This question gives way to a history filled with optimism and the best of intentions.

The concept of irrigation and its use in agriculture is not new. Many ancient societies embraced and practiced the use of moving water from sources to crops to reduce the uncertainty of adequate rainfall in farming. This is evident even in the Cuartelejo Ruins near present-day Scott City, where remains of Native American ditches that supplied water to gardens can still be seen.

In the earliest explorations of Kansas by the Spaniards, the region was noted for its aridness, with only rare exceptions of extreme monsoon-type rainfalls. It was in Zebulon Pike's 1806 "Southwest Exploration" that brought him through the Arkansas Valley, leading his partner Stephen H. Long, to declare the region as "The Great American Desert" and "Unfit for Cultivation". In 1821, WIlliam Becknell set off from Franklin, Mo., for SantaFe New Mexico, pioneering the SantaFe Trade Route. Initially, travelers followed a similar route to Pike along the Arkansas until reaching the Purgatoire River in Colorado and on into SantFe. This lengthy route allowed the slow-moving team (often oxen) and its members access to water. In 1822, an attempt to shorten this trail drew people through the southern part of Grant County where they located springs now known as Wagon Bed Springs. Due to the distance between open available water, this route became the "dry route".

Given the region's aridness, it wasn't until the 1870s that any sigificant attempt was made to settle the area. These early residents worked for ranches, namely the Pig Pen Ranch owned by John O'Laughlin of Lakin. It was his manager, Richard Joyce, who field a homestead on the springs, knowing their significance as one of the only sources of natural water in the region. By the 1880s, the process of drilling water wells and pumping water to the surface using windmills greatly improved. This advancement enabled epeople to finally follow Horace Greeley's famous words: "Go West, young man, go West!"

In June of 1885, Old Ulysses was surveyed with George Earp leading the crew, but promoting the town was delayed until the Ulysses Town Company had sucessfully completed two wells to supply water for horses and people. George Earp later recounted that he "had two furrows plowed from old ulysses to Meade and then placed signage stating the distance left to ulysses and that there was plenty of good water."

The development of Ulysses, due to water attracting droves of wagons, allowed Grant County to be established by the Kansas Legislature in February 1887, followed by the enumeration completed in 1888, separating it from Hamilton County. In western Grant County resided the short-lived townsite of Gognuac, which boasted finding water just 35 feet below the ground. Eventually blizzards, droughts, and tough economic times led to the area losing its luster. The area was largely composed of cattlemen, along with their families and small gardens., Eventually better crops suited for the arid region arrived, and advances in farm mechanizatiom such as Charlie Angell's one-way place developed the western kansas prairie into a farm paradise. but the paradise only lasted so long, until the skies turned black and became filled with dust.

Attempts at irrigating the region had been tried a handful of times, but did not succeed purely due to high costs and poor timing. The Garden City Company developed systems of ditches that allowed the Arkansas River Valley to supply the world with its sugar beet crops. Charles Rea of Chicago, aware of a supposed limitless "Sheet of Water Theory", attempted to drill a 445-foot deep well in Stanton County in 1911. The well produced water, but after reworking, redrilling, and other changes, the project cost $35,000 and was a bust. In 1929, H.H. Brown hand-dug an irrigation well, which was later drilled to a depth of 330 feet south of Big Bow. In northern Stanton and Grant Counties, efforts were made to utilize water from the Bear Creek, which depended primarily on good spring rains.

From family lore, I believe it was 1937, when my Uncle Warren Moore filed with the state of Kansas for one of the first certified irrigation wells in the state to be drilled in northern Haskell County. However, due to delays in capital Wallace Schmidt of Haskell County had the first completed certified well. Shortly after, Warren delveoped his well and got his brother-in-law, my great-great-grandpa Charlie Winger, to put a well in northeastern Stanton County. The well craze was on, and by 1939, this trend came to Grant Count. The most notable well was Bob Wilson's 1200-gallon-per-minute well from 1940. Companies like Minneapolis Moline emphasized their power units, Western Land Roller became known for their turbine pumps, and irrigation spread like wildfire. Many of these early irrgators primarily used irrigation to finish wheat, grow sorghum crops, and bring vegetable production, such as sugar beets, to the region.

In the earliest days, irrigation was done by open ditch irrigation, which eventually incorporated siphon tubest to move water into the furows. This method required a lot of water due to the ditches' ability to evaporate water and needed the land to be as flat as possible. Remember Holcomb Land Planes, Eversman Ditchers, and moving tubes? I was fortunate that the oldest irrigation methods I was around were gated pipe and pivots! With that said, the growth of irrigations to the midwest caused a technology boom, leading a Nebraskan named Frank Zybach to develop center pivot irrigation in 1947. In 1954, Frank licensed his idea to Robert Daugherty, and the Valley Water Drive pivot was born. Around this same time, Eldon Ansel turned his metalworking expertise gained from cab building to develop gated pipe.

From the point that gated pipe and center pivots came into existence, numerous companies built irrigation equipment. The 1950s also marked the beginning of Western Kansas steps toward growing corn, utilizing rapidly changing irrigation techniques. The practicality of developing a dryland farm into an irrigated one allowed Western Kansas' economy to flourish, reliant on water sourced from deep under the earth. The issue lurkig under all of this was the "Sheet of Water Theory" mentioned earlier. As more people became dependent on water, especially water that could have been used more wisely, the consequences led to falling water levels. It then became clear that the "Sheet of Water" known as the alluvial, Ogallala, and Dakota aquifers, was not limitless.

As wells pumped sand or ran dry, they were redrilled and even more people developed ground. Some attempts were made for farmers to gather and advocate for irrigation use, and eventually, in the 1970s, the state of Kansas set up groundwater management districts. The logic was that managing and controlling Kansas' water usage could be better handled at a local region rather than by a state body. For the most part, this has been true, but hasn't been a perfect solution. Since the formation of groundwater districts, self-reported water usage has opted for water meters that allow accurate tracking and monitoring for farmers and landowners. Legislatively and through court venues, the Southwest Kansas Water District has also played out as a battleground, shaping water policies and through continued back and forth will shape the area's future.

Today, we have technology that allows the placement of water from sprinklers to be used more conservatively . Although technologies like these have, in many instances, come too late. As current events and carticles make us aware of the situation Western Kansas is facing, we must also reflect on the history that led to the reguiona becoming overdependent on a resouce. Along with this, the efforts made to limit use and conserve water have all been made in the attempt to "Make it rain."

The University of Kansas, Kansas Geological Survey has long beeen my source for historical articles and periodicals detailing the states irrigating. This along with a multitude of the region's local history books, and my family's own stories and photos on irrigating.