This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: farwellwalter Surnames: Farwell, Ross, Higgins, McIntyre Classification: deed Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.iowa.counties.fremont/7571.2/mb.ashx Message Board Post: THE FREMONT COUNTY SUN. April 9, 1909. "MEETING OF THE BOARD". -- The Board of Supervisors closed a busy session Wednesday. The usual amount of county bills and small matters came before them as well as some very important matters in drainage work. The contract for the construction work of the Walnut Creek ditch was awarded to the Central Dredging Co., of Bancroft, Ia. (sic), and they are required to begin work not later than June 15th (sic), next, and are to receive 28 cents per cubic yard for all dirt to be excavated. THE FREMONT COUNTY HERALD. April 9, 1909. "WALNUT CREEK DITCH CONTRACT IS CAPTURED BY AN OHIO CONCERN". -- Pursuant to announcement of letting the contract for the Walnut creek drainage ditch the board of supervisors was busy for a while Tuesday afternoon in considering bids. There were eight of them with the price per cubic yard as follows: Central Dredging Co., Cleveland, O (sic)..............8.23 cents Johnson & Swanson, Sioux City.........................8.25 cents Cook Construction Co., Des Moines....................11 cents Rankin & Cowden, Riverton...............................10.91 cents Hamilton Construction Co., Chicago....................9.25 cents W.A. D'Arcy, Dayton, Ohio................................9.75 cents The Marrow Larson Dredging Co., Missouri Valley...9.69 cents Dunnegan & Briggs, Shenandoah........................9.75 cents The bidding was sharp and the figures were boiled down to close company but the two lowest were Johnson & Swanson and Central Dredging Co. The former being $21,715.56 and the latter being $21, 670.51. The difference being only $45.05. After some consultation of the board the contract was let to the Central Dredging Co., which was until July (sic) to begin the work. The proposed ditch is 10.23 miles in length and is to be 22 feet wide at the top, 10 feet deep, and 6 feet wide at the bottom. It is to begin one mile west of Summit in Monroe township and close in the Nishna river about one mile southeast of Anderson. The original length of Walnut creek between the two points is 21.2 miles. Thus the ditch will shorten the distance the water must travel over one-half and at no place will the old bed of the stream be used, yet it crosses the old channel 45 times. The present fall of the creek is 2.35 feet per mile, while the fall of the new ditch will be 4.7 feet per mile, and will carry four times the amount of water as now. The work will be done by a dipper, perhaps better known as a floating dredge which works in the direction of the current. N.B.: A closer reading of the two news items shows they don't agree on where the winning bid was from, nor when they were supposed to start work. Summit railroad station was in the east half of the northwest quarter of section 35, Monroe township. My 1921 atlas of Fremont county indicates the straightening began one mile NORTH of Summit, where the Wabash crossed Walnut Creek. If that point be correct, one can count up the stated ten miles east of the West Nishnabotna, the supposed starting point. My father, Clyde Farwell, was born in 1893 about one mile south of Walnut Creek. He said one of the escapades of the Ross, McIntyre, Higgins boys of his generation was to make their horses jump off the edge of the Walnut Creek bridge by the old Vaughan mill, the water being so deep that the horses were not endangered. He said there was much less water in the creek after the straightening and this stunt was impossible afterwards. -- W.F. Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.