Construction Officially Begins

What did it take to build the Deer Flat Reservoir? It took a lot of men, machines, earth and gravel, horse, mules, a few dogs, canals to bring water to the reservoir, and persistence to see the project through.

Some of the people who were employeed at the dam are pictured here. (In the back row left to right, Mr. Strobe, Steve Mohoney, 'Mother' Forham, Ed Gott, Mrs. Williamson, Mrs. Bradley, Mickey Conner, Mrs. Hugh MacDougal, Mr. Craneman, Bull Burdick, George Bacon, 'Dad' Joslyn, and Lawrence Jordan Rodman.) [click the photo at the side to see full image]

The contract for the lower dam was awarded to Hubbard and Carlson, a Boise firm of contractors, who was well and honorably known in the region.They formed their camp and started work in February 1906.

They began by grubbing and burning sagebrush where the homesteaders had not already cleared. Sagebrush is easily eliminated because it is extremely senstive to fire, which kills the whole plant. In just a short time the work on the dam itself began.

The first excavation was for the outlet structure on the lower embankment and for a trench on the lower edge of the dam. The outlet was laid through the embankment at its base. It consisted of three cylinders six feet in diameter, laid parallel in a body of concrete. 

It was operated by gates at the foot of the upper face of the dam. A bridge connected the top of the dam with the top of the gates.

The trench was later filled with gravel to discourage rodents from digging into the dam. To build the embankment, earth was taken from the land in the bottom of the reservoir.

According to Mr. Hubbard, the soil in that sagebrush land made the finest dirt for constructing dams because it was comparatively free from vegetable roots and mold. It was easy to pack and less liable to become porous from the decay of vegetable matter.