Battle Creek Licenses
The Territorial Government issued the first licenses on Battle Creek. H.Y. Marshall was authorized on July 8, 1899 to build a system to divert 1.866 second feet of water at all flow stages to irrigate 280 acres. The water was diverted at the North West quarter of section 34 in township 5, range 29 west of the third. Between 1899 and 1907 twelve additional licenses were issued for Battle Creek.
| License Number | Issued To | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | H.Y. Marshall | H.Y. Marshall was authorized on July 8, 1899 to build a system to divert 1.866 second feet of water at all flow stages to irrigate 280 acres. The water was diverted at the North West quarter of section 34 in township 5, range 29 west of the third. |
| 2 | J. A. Gaff | The second license was issued to J. A. Gaff who was authorized on May 5, 1899 to divert 5.733 second feet of water at all stages of flow to irrigate 860 acres. The water was to be diverted from the same quarter section as that of H.Y. Marshall. License three was issued to J. W. Lindner. His project was authorized on October 10, 1903. The water was to be diverted from the north east quarter of section 9 in township 6, range 29 which was approximately one mile north of the farms of Marshall and Gaff. |
| 3 | J. W. Lindner | License three was issued to J. W. Lindner. His project was authorized on October 10, 1903. The water was to be diverted from the north east quarter of section 9 in township 6, range 29 which was approximately one mile north of the farms of Marshall and Gaff. |
| 4-5 | Mrs. L. E. Richardson and James McKinnon | Licenses four and five were issued to Mrs. L. E. Richardson and James McKinnon both of whom established large ranch operations before 1908. Mrs. L. E. Richardson was authorized on January 26, 1903 to divert 9.2 second feet of water at high water and flood stage to irrigate 1,380 acres.
The diversion was located at the south west quarter of section 11 in township 5, range 27. In close proximity to the Richardson operation was the land of James McKinnon. He submitted his application to develop an irrigation project as part of his farming operations on July 22, 1902. Land to be irrigated included the south west quarter section 31, north west, north east and the south east of section 30, the south west of section 29 and the north east and south west of section 19 all in township 4 range 26 west of the third.
The diversion of the water was located on the south east quarter section 36, township 4, range 27. Construction of the project as outlined by McKinnon was authorized on February 6, 1903. In 1909 McKinnon expanded his farming operations with the purchase of the whole of section 18 and 20 and the south east quarter of section 19 and the north west quarter of section 17. This land was purchased under the Irrigation Act which set the price at three dollars per acre. The costs of constructing the irrigation system could be deducted from this price to a minimum of one dollar an acre. An authorization was issued to McKinnon on September 25, 1909 for the construction of the enlarged system.
An inspection of the project by Irrigation Commissioner John Stewart in December 1910 noted that McKinnon had practically completed his scheme and had water running through the ditches in anticipation of the 1910 irrigation season. With the exception of some laterals which could be made as needed, continued Stewart, the scheme was now in shape to water the land under it. He complimented McKinnon on the quality of his structures noting that dam and head gates were strongly constructed with cribs and planks with a waste gate opening almost to the bottom of the creek. The work on the ditches had also been particularly well done throughout with the sides smoothed up in a most workmanlike manner. Inspections made between 1911 and 1915 indicated further progress resulting in the issuing of a water license to McKinnon on April 26, 1916. Inspections of the McKinnon irrigation system between 1915 and 1921 indicated, however, that the irrigation system was not being used to capacity to raise crops. This was a common complaint of the Department of the Interior of irrigation farmers in Saskatchewan and Alberta. |
| 6 | William Scott Wilson | William Scott Wilson held license six on Battle Creek. Wilson submitted his application with the appropriate plans on July 28, 1904 to irrigate fifty acres in the north east quarter of 34, township 5, range 28 west of the 3rd meridian and fifty acres in the south west quarter of 2, township 6 range 28 from Battle Creek. The former quarter section had been homesteaded by his father, Hugh Wilfred S. Wilson in June 1904 while the latter was owned by his brother C. H. Wilson. William Wilson had homesteaded the south west quarter of section 34, township 5, range 28. In October 1904 he applied to purchase the south east quarter of section 3 and the north west and south east quarters of section 3 in township 6, range 28 in order to expand his project. He received authorization to construct the system as outlined on November 14, 1904. It was to be completed by November 14, 1905.
Wilson encountered a number of problems in the development of his project which included the destruction of the dam in 1906 and 1907. He dealt with the problems by relocating the intake further upstream to the north east quarter of section 28, township 5, range 28 through an agreement with his neighbour Fountain H. Henry. Wilson also applied for the permission to purchase land in section 1 and 12 to the east of his project. In 1919 the decision was made not to sell him this land based on the view that he was not making effective use of his irrigation system. |
| 8 | H. J. Badger | License eight was issued to H. J. Badger who was authorized on February 10, 1905 to divert .667 second feet of water at high and flood stage to 100 acres. This was the smallest amount irrigation operation. License nine was issued to F. W. Henry on October 26, 1906 who was authorized to divert 2.4 second feet of water at high and flood stage to irrigate 360 acres from a location at the north west quarter of section 29, township 5, range 28. License ten was issued to D. H. P. Reesor on April 26, 1907. He was authorized to divert 4.334 second feet of water at high water and flood stage to irrigate 650 acres from a location on the south west quarter of section 31, township 4, range 26. |
| 11 | Earl R. Nash | License eleven was issued to Earl R. Nash. He was originally authorized to divert 6.367 second feet of water at high and flood stage to irrigate 955 acres. The diversion was located at the north east of section 28, township 3, range 27. He developed his project in association with Isaac and Robert J. Stirling. The development of this project involved the construction of the only reservoir on Battle Creek prior to the construction of the Adams Lake Reservoir in 1936. The partnership with Isaac and Robert Stirling increased the size of the project to 1,250 acres. |
| 12 | R. J. Concoran | License twelve was issued to R. J. Concoran whose farming operations were located at the south east quarter of section 4, township 6, range 29. License thirteen was issued on June 26, 1907 to R. P. and W. F. Gilchrist to divert 1.167 second feet at a location from the south west quarter of section 11, township 5, range 27. |
| 13 | R. P. and W. F. Gilchrist | License thirteen was issued on June 26, 1907 to R. P. and W. F. Gilchrist to divert 1.167 second feet at a location from the south west quarter of section 11, township 5, range 27. |
Six Mile Creek was one of the tributaries of Battle Creek used for irrigation purposes. The first license on this watercourse was issued to J. M. Spangler. He came to Canada in 1902 along with his brother, Morris. In 1903 J. M. Spangler, along with his wife and sons, Carl and Harold came to the Cypress Hills. He was authorized to irrigate 290 acres from an intake located on the North East quarter of section 6, township 7, range 28 west of the 3rd meridian.
