Shoshone Canyon, Dam and Road from South Rim of Shorshone River, Wyo.

Publication

Shoshone Canyon, Dam and Road from South Rim of Shorshone River, Wyo.

Description

SHOSHONE CANYON, DAM AND ROAD, FROM SOUTH RIM OF SHOSHONE RIVER, WYO. The Shoshone Dam, at the foot of the Shoshone Reservoir, furnishes water for one of the greatest irrigation projects in the world. The dam itself, completed in 1916, is 328 ft. in height and it blocks a deep, narrow gorge in the canyon of the Shoshone River, impounding 550,000,000 tons of water which is distributed thorugh canals to irrigate more than 160,000 acres of Wyoming lands. This territory, formerly a desert, has thus been transformed into a garden spot, supporting hundreds of families. Our road, furrowing its way along the side of the immense clifs, passes the dam 7 miles W. of Cody and soon after comes to the town itself. Almost with a sense of surprise, we find ourselves once more among stores and residences and within sound of the trains of theBurlington System. Cody might almost be called the shrine of the Old West. Founded by "Buffalo Bill," Col. Wm. F. Cody, it is permeated with the spirit of the great scout and plainsman, of whom a magnificent equestrian statue by the American sculptress, Mrs. Harry Payne Whitney, stands at the head of the main street, with the towering heights of the mountains in the background. Near it is the buffalo Bill Museum, opened in 1927, where many intimate momentos of the famous Indian fighter are on display. Cody and all that it typifies is a fitting "end of the trail" for those whose senses have become keyed to the glories of the Old and the New West thorugh acquaintance with the greatest glory of them all; the Yellowstone National Park. (View looking W. Elev. abt. 5,500 ft. Lat. 45° N.; Long. 109° W.)