Anchor Dam in the spring before the water drains away.
THE DISAPPEARING WATERS OF THE OWL CREEK Charles Blonde had built his homestead in the late 1800’s with high hopes of building his herds and growing plentiful crops. He had just left the Shoshone agency at Fort Washakie where he had worked as a herder and had moved into the the remote Big Horn Basin. Blonde's brand resembled an anchor and his spread was thus called Anchor Ranch. Blonde's two-story ranch house was nestled in the cottonwoods on the South Fork of Owl Creek. He dug irrigation ditches to redirect this small creek to his fields. Despite all his backbreaking efforts, Blonde struggled with irrigation at Anchor Ranch. Local residents witnessed large holes appearing in the ditches of this region and tried to fill these holes with straw. Despite their efforts, a considerable amount of the water would drain away before it could be used. Sinks were also reported to exist in the bed of Owl Creek itself. All that remains of Blonde’s former homestead are the remnants of a cow camp and empty irrigation ditches that have grown over with grass and sagebrush. In
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place of the historic ranch, is a concrete dam. Named after the former ranch, Anchor Dam has earned the dubious reputation as a boondoggle. Like the irrigation ditches, it has never been able to hold back the water from Owl Creek. Nearly every year, the Owl Creek over flows its banks, swollen with snow melt and spring rains. By late summer, there is not enough water for the farmers and ranchers downstream to use for irrigation. Over the years, many attempts were made to get water to the region and it was the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation who believed they could accomplish this momentous task. A geologic report and map of the proposed dam site at Blonde’s old homestead was prepared in 1935. It was based on one week of reconnaissance field work.
Anchor Dam
Local rancher, Henry Freudenthal, strongly opposed the early efforts to build a dam in the area because of “seepage”. He even went as far as measuring the water from the upper to lower end of the Owl Creek and discovered that seventeen percent of the water was lost along the way. The government’s report did not include his observations. The state and federal geologists repeatedly gave cautious approval and suggested further studies and investigation. Once it became clear that the federal government was prepared to spend large amounts of money on the project’s construction, Freudenthal dropped his opposition and declared he would “entrust this point to the judgment of the government engineers.” Problems began almost immediately. In 1958, the year work was to commence, a 300-foot circular crack appeared in the future reservoir area. Two other sinkholes were also discovered that were caused by “solution cavities”. Dolomite, a sedimentary rock that could be dissolved by groundwater
Sinkholes #33 and #34
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