08. Hudson Reservoir and Canal Company

The tempestuous Salt River with its unpredictable floods and droughts caused many problems in the valley.  Farmers and irrigators longed for a reservoir that would tame the river.  There were many stalled attempts at building a dam and reservoir, some as early as 1889. In 1893, Wells Hendershott, a lawyer and promoter from the East, formed the Hudson Reservoir and Canal Company. Hendershott's company filed a claim to the reservoir site identified by the Brekenridge survey.¹ The goal of this reservoir was to store flood waters to irrigate dry land east of the town of Mesa.²  Financed almost completely by the law firm Man and Man, the Hudson Reservoir and Canal Company made a very serious attempt in 1894.  They opened offices in Phoenix and created engineering plans for a masonry dam 225 feet tall. Unfortunately, this effort failed when the company was unable to raise the $3 million needed to complete the project. 

To see newspaper accounts of the Hudson Reservoir Company's efforts to build a dam, click HERE.

¹Smith, Karen L., The Magnificent Experiment: Building the Salt River Reclaimation Project 1890-1917 (Tucson, AZ: THe University of Arizona Press, 1986), p. 14

²Ibid.