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The Wichita Valley irrigation project: Joseph Kemp, boosterism, and conservation in northwest Texas, 1886-1939.
- Source :
-
Agricultural history [Agric Hist] 2011; Vol. 85 (4), pp. 493-519. - Publication Year :
- 2011
-
Abstract
- This is the story of failure: in this case, an irrigation project that never met its boosters' expectations. Between 1880 and 1930, Wichita Falls entrepreneur Joseph Kemp dreamed of an agrarian Eden on the Texas rolling plains. Kemp promoted reclamation and conservation and envisioned the Big Wichita River Valley as the "Irrigated Valley." But the process of bringing dams and irrigation ditches to the Big Wichita River ignored knowledge of the river and local environment, which ultimately was key to making these complex systems work. The boosters faced serious ecological limitations and political obstacles in their efforts to conquer water, accomplishing only parts of the grandiose vision. Ultimately, salty waters and poor drainage doomed the project. While the livestock industry survived and the oil business thrived in the subsequent decades, the dream of idyllic irrigated farmsteads slowly disappeared.
- Subjects :
- Food Supply economics
Food Supply history
History, 19th Century
History, 20th Century
Texas ethnology
Water Supply economics
Water Supply history
Agricultural Irrigation economics
Agricultural Irrigation education
Agricultural Irrigation history
Agriculture economics
Agriculture education
Agriculture history
Conservation of Natural Resources economics
Conservation of Natural Resources history
Ecology economics
Ecology education
Ecology history
Economics history
Rivers
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 0002-1482
- Volume :
- 85
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Agricultural history
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 22180941
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.3098/ah.2011.85.4.493