There's a huge dredge in Sumpter that was electric. The story, as told to me, was they imported Chinese to build a pipeline to bring water from Olive Lake to the Fremont Power Plant where it was converted to electricity. This is the pipeline...hidden in the woods.
Disappearing into the Distance
There's a groove along the lowest edge of the board, the parallels, that is so perfect there's not a hint of splinter. The smell of waterproofing tar is still strong.
The survivors supposedly went unpaid. Googling Chinese and Fremont Pipeline brings no mention of their contribution. The only evidence is the cemetery in Baker City. It's condition shows there's been no change in attitude since the earlier era. (see blogpost: The Chinese Cemetery)
When I was a kid, sometime in the mid 60's, dad won the contract to replace the buried wooden water mains in the town of Gaylord Michigan with 'modern' piping. They looked just like this though some were on a smaller scale. Since there were no valves in the system, everytime a backhoe got too close to one and it fell apart the whole town had to wait for the watertower to drain before repairs could be made.
ReplyDeleteWOW! Your comment prompted reflection on the advances in technology. Few of us recognize the changes that have resulted in our current lifestyle. I'm awed by the level of craftsmanship in the earlier systems and yet, I ALMOST take for granted the GPS (an incredible resource!) I use each day to navigate.
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