Canal Town
November , 2007
By John Evanoff
Throughout the period Wadsworth was growing as
a major train stop and servicing depot for the Central Pacific Railroad,
(1867-1902) a small jerkwater grew up out of the desert just two
miles south. The supervisors of the rail route were smart to lay
siding track at several places to allow traffic by when Wadsworth
was congested or when a train was coming by on the single track
ahead. The toughest and driest part of the trip across the United
States for the old steam engines was between Lovelock and Wadsworth.
Water was a constant problem and jerkwaters sprang up along the
entire desert route. Jerkwaters were named so because the engineers
stopped below a large water holding tank where they filled the steam
engine’s water tank from the top by laying the hose into the
opened hatch and pulling a chain that operated the plunger to let
the water flow into the tank. In some cases, the engineers were
so adept at stopping and filling the engine’s tanks they didn’t
even have to get out of the cab and just jerked the chain to fill
the tank. These jerkwaters were also used as bases for supplies
and laborers who made sure the tanks were full of water and the
tracks were clean and clear for the engines. Many little service
stops were installed over a fifty mile stretch between the Humboldt
Sink and the Truckee River’s Big Bend. After the many realignments
between 1875 and 1901, some of the sidings were re-named but most
remained with their names forever to be forgotten except by the
railroad engineers. From Lovelock west were the sidings of Toy,
Perth, Granite Point, Toulon, Miriam, Ocala, Huxley, Parran, Desert
(prev: Marsala), Upsal, Falais, Massie, Hazen, Darwin (prev: Patna),
Argo, Luva, New Junction and Two Mile. A small station with an engine
for moving any freight or passengers stranded in the desert was
kept on the sidings between Fernley and Hazen. All of these small
jerkwaters and sidings were constantly being moved because of servicing
problems or issues of transporting water and men between the sidings.
The Truckee River’s waters were almost completely claimed
by 1895 by upstream users, but between 1896 and 1902 the United
States began to look at irrigation projects in the west and especially
in the Truckee and Carson River basins. The Vice-President at the
time, Theodore Roosevelt under President William McKinley’s
tutelage, and the help of Secretary of Interior Ethan Allen Hitchcock,
who vigorously pursued the conservation of natural resources, began
the building of Derby Dam and the Truckee Canal with the newly created
Reclamation Service. This was the Truckee-Carson Project which eventually
became the Newlands Project. In less than two years, the dam and
30 mile long canal were built to move water from the Truckee to
the Carson River at Lahonton Dam. Along the path of the canal and
further south to Lahonton, the water was diverted with control gates
to be used to irrigate more than 300,000 acres of land. Some of
this irrigated farmland can be seen along both sides of the canal’s
length in Fernley on Truckee Lane, North Canal Drive, Desert Shadows
Lane or Farm District Road. This amazing dream to bring life to
the desert basins took the effort of more than 1,500 men and two
years to complete. Fernley grew up in 1904 in part to handle this
monstrous endeavor. Two railroads converged to handle the equipment
and provisions needed for the large group of men including the Union
and Central Pacific. In June of 1905 a delegation headed by Senator
Francis G. Newlands, the sponsor of the 1902 Reclamation Act, opened
the gates of the Truckee Canal. Within three years, all but a few
of the workmen had left and only the homesteaders and a few railroad
workers remained. So much pressure was put on the Truckee and Carson
Rivers during the summer irrigation periods between 1905 and 1912
that lands were closed for additional agricultural improvement and
homesteading. Some farmers even abandoned their fields because of
the loss of water to upstream users. During this time, another railroad
line incorporated the Central Pacific with northern California with
the opening of the Fernley and Lassen railway in 1909 which moved
freight and supplies north along the west side of Pyramid Lake and
north into the fertile lands of the Honey Lake and Lassen County.
The realignment was taken over by the Southern Pacific with branches
through out the Northwest and southwest and in 1914 a sizeable depot
was constructed in Fernley to handle passengers and freight. With
the eventual completion of the Lincoln/Victory Highway (US Highway
40 and Highway 50) through town in 1921, the town grew to around
200 people. Then, other dams were built over the next fifty years
and today, the town of Fernley is finally an incorporated city with
a population of more than 25,000.
Many people live in Fernley and drive to work in
Reno or Sparks. The attraction in Fernley is the open country feel
and the quiet of a small town. Many of us have also driven through
Fernley on NSR 427 south of Highway 80 to turn onto Alternate 95
and go to Lahontan during the spring and summer to fish, water ski
or just relax in the large desert reservoir. There is also a speedway
south of town where you can still be entertained by hardtop and
mini racers on a small oval track. Every year in September, the
town puts on a great rodeo with the National Senior Pro Rodeo Association
in attendance. These kinds of family events also bring people and
business to the area to live and enjoy the Nevada desert. In fact,
the town is gradually growing into a small industry city with Amazon.com
building a large distribution warehouse and many others deciding
Fernley is perfect for their kind of business.
Growing up in Northern Nevada, I remember spending
an occasional late fall or winter day huddled in tule bushes in
the Fernley Wildlife Area (Fernley Sink) hunting duck and geese.
More times than I can count, I remember looking for arrowheads in
and around Fernley and along both sides of the railroad track all
the way to the Humboldt Sink outside Lovelock. There are many four
wheel drive roads in the area, some meandering into the hillsides
and others into the alkali wasteland of the 40 Mile Desert and the
great basin sinks in the region. I have taken most of them, but
prefer to get out and walk once I have gone in far enough to be
away from civilization for the day. One you may want to drive is
south of Fernley and in the little way stop of Hazen where you pick
up California Road heading east. This road finally ends at Highway
80 at the west end of the Carson Sink. There are also a few four
wheel drive roads heading out of Fernley into the Fernley Sink area
all the way to Brady Hot Springs. One of the best mountain bike
rides is along the Canal Road west of Fernley out along the Truckee
River where you’ll see some interesting parts of the canyon
and get a perspective of the hard work needed to complete the canal.
You always want to take enough water and food with you on any of
these roads and be prepared to walk long distances. It wasn’t
uncommon for our family to walk more than seven miles just looking
for things dropped by the pioneers along the old California Trail
or the Pony Express Trail. Of course, always bring a camera. The
desert gives great views to be shared and you’ll likely see
things you will never see anywhere else. Some of the early pioneers
thought of this place as Dante’s worst nightmare and certainly
a better depiction of hell than he ever painted, but if you know
the desert like I do, you’ll grow to appreciate it as something
very special.
Next month, we’ll go further south to Fallon,
Oasis of Nevada and visit the other part of the dream to grow fields
in the desert and feed a hungry growing west.
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