Colorado's 2017 Most Significant Artifacts

Monte Vista Historical Society's artifact - Letterhead with proposed illustration of Dam at Wagon Wheel Gap was selected as one of 10 artifacts for this year's - Colorado's 2017 Most Significant Artifacts.

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Letterhead Stationary with Illustration of a Dam at Wagon Wheel Gap   
Artifact Is: 3 Dimensional
Located at: Monte Vista Historical Society
Artifact Significant To: Colorado, NationArtifact Description:

The artifact is a sheet of letterhead stationery illustration a dam at Wagon Wheel Gap, near Creede, in the San Luis Valley.  The sponsoring agency is the San Luis Valley Water Conservancy District, headquartered in Alamosa, Colorado.  
Why Is This Artifact Significant?

Water development in the Valley has always been an important issue.  Being a high mountain desert, the Valley receives only seven inches of rain in an average year.  Irrigation is crucial to farming and ranching, and these industries have been the mainstay of life here.  Water storage and development continue to be crucial issues, and the Wagon wheel Gap Dam was an effort to increase storage and hence irrigation water.
How Does The Artifact Relate To Colorado History?

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The fact that the dam was never built relates to Colorado history in that many projects were either delayed or never begun, due to the demands on resources posed by  World War II.  The management of water, its storage and basin transfer, continue to be important to the state and will continue to do so.  The letterhead stationery is one such piece of the water picture.

To see all ten artifacts go to: Colorado Connecting to Collections & Collection Care @ Auraria.edu
https://collectioncare.auraria.edu/content/letterhead-illustration-dam-wagon-wheel-gap

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