​Eagle Point Irrigation District began it's journey on August 21st, 1915, when the State of Oregon granted the water rights from Big Butte Creek.  As the story goes, the District wasn't officially established  until April 15th, 1919 by Waldemar Hammel, James Spencer, William Perry & Wilbur Jacks. These gentleman went on to form a committee among the local land owners and created the district boundaries we have today.

The Board proceeded to hire engineer Ralph P. Cowgill, graduate of Washington State & Frank Dillard a then recent graduate of University of Oregon. These two men mapped out, staked, soil tested the whole district making sure the canal & laterals from Butte Falls to Eagle Point were in tip top shape to carry 100 CFS of water.

​To put the plans into action , William Vonderhellen & Ed Dahack were awarded the contract to construct the main canal, laterals , flumes & bridges . To get these projects completed in a timely manner, the district hired 3 crews of laborers. Each crew consisting of around 20 local men. The crew had a strict deadline to have the canal and laterals completed by August of 1924. 

On April 29th 1924 water was diverted for the first time from Big Butte Creek . The following month,  the district sent the first flow of water through the Nichols Gap on May 17th at 9:05 P.M.  The men were definitely testing the waters, because just 5 days later a land slide occurred , wiping out a large portion of the canal. Water was then shut off for the next two weeks repairing major  damages. (see images for below)

In the early stages of the district, a board members life was cut short in September of 1921. Wilbur Jacks was shot in the back on the Main Street of Eagle Point, by a local resident. The district didn't waste much time getting the position filled.  The newly elected officer was Mr. Fred Pettegrew , a long time resident of Eagle Point.

​Construction of the wooden flume stretching across Brownsboro Hwy & Little Butte Creek  began in the spring of 1924, bringing water to the south east part of the valley. This project took a little over two weeks to complete.

​​As years passed the large working crews diminished, but the demand of water grew. By 1936 the district was running low on water. The ground was dry and crops were diminishing. When water stops flowing, so does the cash flow of the farmers. So the District decided to barter with many of the farmers who couldn’t pay cash for irrigation. Which in return , helped the district feed the horses the ditch riders rode. (see image below)

​​ By the 1950’s the district was pretty established. Much of the wooden flumes had been replaced with steel. Ditch riders no longer rode horses. The district had equipment to clean ditches. That doesn't mean problems didn't occur. Canal breaks still existed, but each time a break happened , that section was either piped or gunited. The summer months also included some mischievous fishermen, they found a way to  plug up the fish wheel, stealing fish and occasionally pulling spill boards too. This issue caused water to be down a good 24 hours each time though out the years.

The Worthington brothers paid half the bill with 14 head of  hogs and 30 tons of alfalfa hay.  While Mr. Gossett paid half his irrigation with 10 head of cows & Marshall Minter paid his with a ford tractor. I'm not sure what the district did with the hogs, but the tractor was put to use along with the hay for the working horses along our canal.

Throughout the 1960’s the district went through a few more bookkeepers; Doris Kelley & Clydenne Peterson. In 1973 we hired a lifelong bookkeeper that would stick around for many more years to come and eventually become the manager of the district (the only woman to mange a district, this side of the Mississippi). Hazel Brown was hired on October 31st of 1973 & was the district bookkeeper from 1973 to 1981. She moved up to district manager in 1982 and retired as manager in 2010. 

​​The 70's seem to be a little rough on the guys who working along the canal. According to the journals being kept, they had a hard time keeping the equipment on the canal road. On Dec. 31 a crew member slide the tractor off the bank and ran into the tree. Just months before, the manager slide off the road and got stuck. During the winter months the canal road isn’t the safest. Just think of a very narrow road covered in ice and sticky mud. While one side is a full water canal and more than likely the other side is a steep mountain side. Not much room for corrections. If you weren’t sliding off the road you were falling through old bridges, cleaning boulders out of the canal or unplugging the fish wheel.

The summer of 1940 the district hired an aerial photographer to capture the layout of the lands. The photographer captured the irrigated lands from Butte Falls all the way to Eagle Point. 

Wilfley Orchard

EPID had many large orchards in the district in the early years.  One of the biggest, Wilfley Orchard, located near  Ball & Brophy road (Now Trayhnam Ranches) and the Alta Vista Orchard, which is now the EP golf course.

​Water wasn’t the only thing EPID sold. Manager Ted Seaman purchased property for the district,. EPID would advertise in the local papers like the Mail Tribune & Eagle Point Herald.  The advertising worked great, as many farmers from the plains flocked to the area purchasing irrigated farm land.

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