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A HISTORY OF IMPERIAL VALLEY 43
bottles, would be found filled with liquid of a sort
that could be recognized by any true blue Scotchman.
The dry desert was therefore sometimes made quite
bearable.
Around Thanksgiving time in 1900, Chief Engineer
Rockwood and Mr. Chaffey planm;d to assemble
teams and equipment for constructIon work
on the canaL The first men employed on this work
were W. A. and 1. M. Van Horn and W. F. Gillett
and their families who crossed the river below Yuma
on a raft. When' canal and ditch construction work
started it was Mr. Russell's duty to layout the course
with stakes, instruct the graders as to the size of the
ditch examine their work when completed and accept
'it officially if done according to specifications.
The grading contractors came to know "Scotty" ~ussell
as a man who insisted on exactness. Many a tIme
wind would blow the loose silt from the ditch banks
and Russell would discover it with his transit and
make the contractor do the work over.
Owing to their intimate acquaintance with d~sert
conditions, the surveyors were called on many tImes
to act as guides for visiting parties. In July, 1900,
Russell personally conducted Harry Ch~ndler, who
was accompanied by Geo. Hunt, on theIr first t~ur
into Mexico to look at the Andrade lands whiCh
Chandler, his father-in-law, Harrison Gray Otis and
their associates later purchased to the extent of more
than 800 000 acres. This became the famous C. M.
Ranch. I~ March, 1901, Russell took a vacation. He
received a telegram from Yuma that caused him to
drop his surveying instruments almost where they
were, rush to Dr. Heffernan's store at Cameron Lake,
buy the best box of cigars he ~ou!d ~nd, leave them
on the counter for general dlstnbutlOn, saddle the
best horse in camp, strap a package of food and the
canteen on his saddle and ride straight east over the
sand hills to Yuma, to visit a brand new baby daughter.
Russell says he does not recall anything that
stopped him on his way. Mr. and Mrs. Russell, however,
were saddened two years later by the death of
the little girl.
During the early fight .with the floo~ waters of
the river Russell was detaIled to cut a SIde channel
on the Alamo to drain Mesquite Lake. The high
water made it very difficult to keep the water, from
breaking back into Mesquite L~ke, but by dmt .of
unceasing labor this was accomplIshed. Together With
C. N. Perry and the other engineers, Russell handled
the direction of much of the labor that worked at
the heading in the fight to close the break. He continued
as engineer for the California Development
Company until 1908.
Mr. Russell had the foresight to file on a half
section of land during the early days and still owns
270 acres, which for many years have been in a high
state of cultivation. He leases his land, while he and
Mrs. Russell divide their time between the Valley
and Los Angeles.
Although well past seventy, Mr. Russell is as hale
as any man thirty years his junior. His voice is as
dear and ringing as it was when he was giving
orders to the gangs thirty years ago.
A BIT OF LOWER CALIFORNIA HISTORY
In the Life of Don Guillermo Andrade
In all the engineering plans for bringing water
from the Colorado River to Imperial Valley the
necessity of entering Mexico and skirting the sand
hills was fully recognized. When the time came to
negotiate for a right of way for the canal the promoters
of the irrigation scheme found the. l~nd
owned by Don Guillermo Andrade. He was wlllmg
to sell but the promoters were not able to buy the
100,000 acres necessary. However, Senor Andrade
gave an option for a consi~erati?n so that. the pr~moters
could interest finanCiers 10 the proJect. ThIS
option had to be renewed from time to time as
related by C. R. Rockwood in his account of the
beginnings of things. Just at the critical moment,
when Geo. Chaffey agreed to take hold of the construction
work, the option expired again and Mr.
Chaffey had to negotiate for the lands on his own
account to protect his own and the Valley's interests.
Inasmuch as Don Guillermo Andrade's other activities
had much to do with the Colorado River delta
country, a brief sketch of his life is not out of place.
A PIONEER IN MEXICO
Don Guillermo Andrade was born in Hermosillo,
Sonora, Mexico, in the year 1829, of Spanish parentage.
At an early age he was sent to Europe to be
educated, where he attended some of the foremost
colleges in France and Spain until the age of twentyfour,
when he was recalled to Mexico by the death
of both his parents. T~ey left a larg~ estate co~prised
of sugar plantatIOns and refinenes, the b~slness
of which Don Guillermo undertook and carned
on until the year 1863. ."
In this year, attracted by the g?ld eXC1tem~nt ~n
California, he went to San FranCISco, engag10g 10
the banking and commission business, ~nd .in the y~ar
1879 established the first steamshIp lme plymg
on the west coast of Mexico, between Manzanillo
and Guaymas. About this time Mr, Andrade secured
a concession from the Mexican government for
35000 acres of land, embracing the present port of
Sa~ Felipe, situated on the Gulf coast of Lower California
immediately south of the mouth of the Colorado
River, and a fishery concession for all fishing on
the Gulf of California. Shortly afterward he secured
a concession for a considerable portion of the pearl
fisheries on the Gulf, and later on came into possession
of three large islands, namely Tiburon, San
Estevan and Angel de Guardia, the first being val~able
for cattle raising and the latter two for theIr
guano deposits.
While exploring the regions in this district his
attention was called to the lower delta of the Colorado
River lying south of Yuma. Although few white
men had ever traversed this part of the country, Mr.
Andrade decided on a trip of investigation and in
spite of the arduous tas~ he m~de a tho~oug~ examination
of the country, Immediately seemg Its great
possibilities, realizing at the same time that the
amount of capital and energy required to place th~s
land in habitation would be stupendous. Upon hIS