Building the Big Ditch

The big ditch was built in Hamilton as a big project to turn the valley into an apple orchard mecca. This "Big Ditch Boom" ran from 1906 to 1915 - a very short lived experiment!

It all began when Marcus Daly decided to develop an extensive ditch irrigation network. The scheme was further fueled by speculators from the east who helped build the ditch and then sold off land to hungry farmers with promise of future riches. Mostly the farmers tried to grow apples, which really do grow well in the valley - just not every single year, like they do further north in the lowlands of Idaho and Washington.

From 1907 to 1911 the population of Hamilton grew from 1,800 people to a whopping 3,000.

Today the big ditch system still serves the valley, and many think that it is repsonsible for the wonderful well water that is easly accessible to subdivisions around town. The ditch is managed by a local ditch company, and runs happily through multiple neighborhoods.