This collection contains the papers of the Sevier River Land and Water Company and spans the period 1901-1940.
Repository:
Utah State University. Manuscript Collections
Merrill-Cazier Library Utah State University 3000 Old Main Hill Logan, UT 84322-3000 Phone: 435 797-2663 Fax: 435 797-2880 Email: scweb@usu.edu
Languages:
Material in English
Sponsor:
Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA)
grant, 2007-2008
Historical Note
Incorporated in 1908 and based in Lynndyl, Utah, the Sevier River Land and Water Company (SRL&WC) was one of many speculative companies formed after the passage of the Carey Act of 1894. The law gave private companies permission to construct irrigation systems in the semi-arid West and profit from the sales of water from those systems. Companies like the SRL&WC would front money for water projects like canals and reservoirs, then advertise the newly-irrigated land to prospective buyers. The company would then attempt to turn a profit by charging the landowners fees for the use of water originating from company-owned infrastructure. Often several water companies would collaborate to finance the construction of a headgate, pipeline, or dam. In 1913 the SRL&WC entered into an agreement with three other companies concerning ownership of water rights in the Sevier Bridge Reservoir (Juab and Sanpete Counties). The SRL&WC would own 41%, the Deseret Irrigation Company 26%, the Delta Land & Water Company 17%, and the Melville Irrigation Company 16%. The companies were to share the cost of improvements to the reservoir in the same proportion. By 1920, many of the speculative companies in this region encountered financial hardship, including the SRL&WC. Unable to pay its taxes, the company folded on June 14, 1920.
Content Description
This collection contains the papers of the Sevier River Land and Water Company and spans the period 1901-1940. The bulk of the collection is comprised of land surveys, structural diagrams, and hydrographs produced by the company’s surveyors and engineers. The surveys are labeled with an "S", the diagrams with a "D", and the hydrographs with an "H", each followed by an identifying number. Drawings labeled with an "M" (miscellaneous) mainly include drawings done by Leland Callister, for various engineering classes at the University of Utah. Leland was the son of Thomas Clark Callister, Jr., a construction engineer for the Sevier River Land & Water Company and the founder of the Pahvant Irrigation Company.
Use of the Collection
Restrictions on Access :
No restrictions on use, except: not available through interlibrary loan.
Restrictions on Use :
It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances.
Permission to publish material from the Sevier River Land and Water Company Papers must
be obtained from the Special Collections Manuscript Curator and/or the Special Collections
Department Head.
Preferred Citation :
Initial Citation:
Sevier River Land and Water Company Papers USU_COLL MSS 334,
Box [ ]. Special Collections and Archives. Utah State University Merrill-Cazier Library. Logan, Utah.
Following Citations:USU_COLL MSS 334,
USUSCA.
Administrative Information
Arrangement :
Arranged by subject matter.
Processing Note :
Processed in July of 2008
Acquisition Information :
The materials included in this collection were originally passed from SRL&WC construction engineer Thomas Clark Callister, Jr. to his son, Leland Callister. The papers subsequently appear to have been donated to USU, along with some other Millard County materials, by Craig Callister in the 1980s.
Related Materials :
For more information about Thomas Clark Callister, Jr. see:
"Thomas Clark Callister, Jr." In History of Utah Since Statehood, v. 4, edited by Noble Warrum, 574-576. Chicago: The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1919.
For more information about irrigation companies operating along the Sevier River see:
The Melville Irrigation Company Papers, 1907-1930 COLL MSS 140
Minutes of meetings of the Deseret Irrigation Company, 1913-1934 (COLL MSS 238 no. 102).
Bibliography : Sources:
Crafts, Dudley. History of the Sevier Bridge ReservoirDelta, UT: DuWil Publishing Co., 1976.
Jensen, William R. "Canals and Canards: Three Case Studies of Land and Water Speculation in Utah, 1905-1920." M.A. thesis, Utah State University, 1971.
Detailed Description of the Collection
Surveys, 1901-1936
(29 tubes, 59 items)
Container(s)
Description
Dates
tube
1
S-1: State of Utah index map of lower Sevier River system, Lloyd Garrison
1925
1
S-2: "Original map of unirrigated lands under filing # 296"
Undated
1
S-3: Survey of Piute Reservoir, H. S. Kleinschmidt
(survey is also a legal document with detail information, and signed by the president of the Otter Creek Reservoir Company)
1908
1
S-4: Pahvant Irrigation Company land surveys of Millard County Utah
Undated
1
S-5: Three maps concerning "Valuable farming lands submerged by the enlarged Sevier Bridge Reservoir," Richard R. Lyman & Clarence S. Jarvis, SLC
1914
2
S-6: Land surveys along Sevier River Canal (10+ maps)
Undated
3
S-7: "Map of Sevier River from Clear Creek to Rocky Ford Reservoir, Van Dyle & Tracing"
Undated
4
S-8: Survey of water levels near Wellington, Leland C. Callister
1935
4
S-9: Survey and affidavit of "Enlarged Sevier Bridge Reservoir"
1909
5
S-10: Sevier Bridge Reservoir
1903
6
S-11: Original Lynndyl Townsite
1913
6
S-12: "Van Dyke of Sevier Bridge Reservoir"
Undated
7
S-13: Sevier River Land & Water Company Project map, Millard Co., UT
Undated
7
S-14: Sevier River Land & Water Company Project map, Millard Co., UT, Elmer A. Porter
Undated
8
S-15: Millard Townsite & Vicinity: Showing Irrigation Systems, Sevier Land & Water Company E. E. Forshay
1909
8
S-16: Maps of land along the Sevier River, Sevier River Water & Land Company
Undated
9
S-17: "Sevier River from Clear Creek to Rocky Ford Reservoir showing un-irrigatable lands under filing 296"
Undated
10
S-18: Surveys of "Delta, Mellville Reservoir"
Undated
11
S-19: Affidavit and survey of Fool Creek Reservoir, Sevier River Water & Land Company
1920
11
S-20: Surveys of property ownerships (three maps)
Undated
12
S-21: "Map showing amended location of reservoir # 1", Sevier River Water & Land Company
1920
12
S-22: Survey concerning the Sevier River Water & Land Company Project, Elmer A. Porter
Undated
13
S-23: Blueprints/surveys/hydrographs of Fool Creek Reservoir
Undated
14
S-24: Blueprints/surveys/hydrographs of Fool Creek Reservoir
Undated
14
S-25: Survey and affidavit of Otter Creek Reservoir
1901
15
S-26: Sevier River Land & Water Company & Pahvant Irrigation District, L. H. Kimball
Undated
15
S-27: Survey and contour map of Fool Creek Reservoir
Undated
16
S-28: Surveys of "Delta, Mellville Reservoir"
Undated
17
S-29: Survey of Utah State Land Board Piute Project
Undated
18
S-30: Map of the McCornick Townsite, Sevier River, Land, & Water Company
1920
18
S-31: Map of Sevier River Watersheds showing locations of weather and gauging, canals and reservoirs, Richlands Irrigation Company
1915
19
S-32: Sevier Canal Company maps of canal and blueprints of the "weir gage"
1922
19
S-33: Affidavit and survey concerning the Sevier River Water & Land Company
1913
20
S-34: Affidavit and survey of Fool Creek Reservoir, Sevier River Water & Land Company
1920
20
S-35: Amended plat map of Lynndyl, Utah, Leland H. Kimball
Undated
21
S-36: "Map of the Sevier River Watershed," F. W. Cotternell
Undated
21
S-37: "Profile and map of main canal" (20 + maps)
Undated
21
S-38: Map/survey of the "Sevier River from Clear Creek to Rocky Ford Reservoir" showing towns and canals
Undated
21
S-39: Topographical maps complied by the Sevier River Land & Water Company
Undated
21
S-40: Map of the Sevier Bridge Reservoir and Fool Creek Reservoir
Undated
22
S-41: Map of the Layton drainage
Undated
23
S-42: Surveys of property in sections 11 and 19, Sevier River Water & Land Company
Undated
23
S-43: Fishlake National Forest, Utah, USDA
1925
23
S-44: "Delta township map showing proposed "sewer mains, outlets, and sundry structures," Sevier River Water & Land Company
Undated
23
S-45: Survey of reservoir # 1 and 2", Sevier River Water & Land Company
1920
24
S-46: "Map showing land actually irrigated"
Undated
24
S-47: Survey of "Township 15 range 5," ( a town along the Sevier River)
Undated
25
S-48: Map of electrical lines near Lynndyl, Utah
Undated
25
S-49: Survey of Delta High School property holdings, L. C. Callister
1936
26
S-50: Survey of property ownerships
Undated
26
S-51: Land Classification Map of Utah, USGS
1931
27
S-52: "Distribution system and canal map," Deseret Irrigation Company
1931
27
S-53: Sevier Bridge Reservoir index survey map
Undated
28
S-54: Survey maps of land along the Sevier River
(copies of the originals)
1874
28
S-55: Central Utah Water Company Project, Millard County
Undated
29
S-56: Survey of the Sevier River showing land owners and property sales
1929
29
S-57: "Sketch of plat damsite and proposed river change for the Sevier River," Sevier River Water & Land Company
