Constructed in 1910 about 8 miles west of here, Salmon Dam was a spectacular early irrigation structure. Two hundred twenty feet high, it blocks a narrow lava gorge of Salmon Falls Creek. Intended to create a large reservoir to irrigate desert lands north of here, it was only a partial success. Porous lava canyon walls let water escape around it, and lack of rainfall in Nevada's desert above here provided less than enough moisture for this reservoir. It did not fill up until 1984.