The Ditch

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll pass it along just as it stands. Now, they call it 'The Ditch,' which, I'll admit, is about as modest a name as you can hang on something that's been keeping this valley alive for well over a hundred years. But that's Menard County for you; no need to dress up what works.

So let's go back to 1874, when three men sat down and made it official. William J. Vaughn signed on as President of the Vaughn Agricultural and Mechanical Canal Company.

William Tipton came in as Director. James H. Comstock served as both Director and Secretary.

And they brought in Major H.M. Holmes to handle the legal side of things as their appointed attorney. Four names, one charter, and a very big idea.

They were going to pull water out of the San Saba River; not with pumps, not with engines, but with nothing but gravity. Pure, patient, downhill flow. And with that flow, they figured to irrigate two thousand acres of valley land and power grist mills besides.

Now that right there is the kind of engineering that doesn't make a lot of noise. It just works. By 1876, The Ditch was running.

It stretched from five miles above town all the way to five miles below: ten miles of hand-cut intention moving water through West Texas like it had somewhere important to be, which it did. Then in 1886, Vaughn sold his controlling interest to a man named Gus Noyes. Ownership changed hands, but The Ditch kept running.

And by 1905, the Menard Irrigation Company had taken over operations; still using, mind you, the original dam. The same dam. All these decades later, same dam.

Some things in Texas get replaced. Some things just get respected. That's The Ditch.

What the marker says

The Vaughn Agricultural and Mechanical Canal Company was chartered in 1874 by William J. Vaughn, President; William Tipton, Director; and James H. Comstock, Director and Secretary. Major H.M. Holmes was appointed attorney. Irrigation for 2,000 acres of valley land and power for grist mills are furnished by gravity flow from San Saba River. Use of "The Ditch," running from 5 miles above town to 5 below, began in 1876. Vaughn sold his controlling interest to Gus Noyes in 1886. Since 1905 "The Ditch" has been operated by Menard Irrigation Company, using the original dam. (1972)