4-07-19 (Mexican Ditch)

On the Carson River outside Carson City, Nevada, in Silver Saddle Ranch park. Mexican Ditch was built ca. 1860 to provide water for a mill that was processing ore from the Comstock Lode in Virginia City. Water from the ditch was also promptly diverted for agriculture as well, which led to litigation (and some violence) between the miners and the farmers. The issue was resolved in favor of the miners, which turned out to be a Pyrrhic victory as the mill had shut down by 1907. The left inset shows the headgate that lets water into the ditch. The right inset shows more or less this same view in Sept. 2012, at the height of the drought, when the river was virtually dry. Why "Mexican" Ditch? This area had been under Mexican sovereignty not long before the Comstock was discovered, having been transferred to US control by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. I suspect there were a number of Mexicans living in the area who suddenly found themselves under US jurisdiction, and they may well have provided much of the labor. "Whiskey's for drinking. Water's for fighting over." -- Mark Twain

Water being diverted from the Carson River. Now in Silver Saddle Ranch park, jointly run by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Carson City.

A video of the view in the adjacent pictures, showing the water flowing better than it's flowed in years. Again, I've attempted a real-time narration.