And the Desert Shall Blossom

Water, both its scarcity and its excess, posed the greatest challenge to Dixie’s early Mormon settlers. When the original company of families entered the St. George valley late in 1861, they had little more than two small springs for drinking water and the uncertain currents of the Virgin and Santa Clara Rivers for irrigation. From their first day in the valley until their deaths, these pioneers devoted their lives to finding, diverting, ditching, and carefully using water. William Carter, who built his home on the southeast corner of this block, plowed the first ditch in the valley, channeling water from a spring that still flows from the eastern edge of the red sandstone ledge north of the city. A ditch and wooden flume system was soon built throughout the town to carry water from East and West springs to many lots. Although the spring water did not taste good, it sustained life and was better than the foul water from the Virgin River. The town established a daily drinking hour, when all irrigation diversions were removed from the main ditch so water could flow fully through the system, and each household drew enough for the day and stored it in barrels. Disputes over water turns were unavoidable, but completion of the Tabernacle with its punctual town clock helped synchronize the citizens and lessen disagreements. To irrigate farms south of town, the pioneers quickly began building dams, diversions, and ditches from the Rio Virgin to the fields, but project after project failed as the river’s unpredictable currents and periodic floods washed away their work. Decades passed before the Virgin’s flow was effectively harnessed, and even today the river still finds ways to have its way.

St. George, Utah · United States