History of Water Use
by Sally Thompson
Manipulation of water began as soon as Euro-Americans settled in this valley, as documented by these photographs from the Mike and Maureen Mansfield Library Special Collections Archive. We hope you enjoy them. Feel free to post comments or send us any old photos you have of the creek or watershed. We’d love to share them! Thanks to Ellie Long of the Clark Fork Coalition for making these photos available.
*All text is courtesy of the Lower Rattlesnake Historic District. More information can be found on their website.
In 1860, Rattlesnake Creek powered a sawmill called Missoula Mill. A ditch was constructed to divert water from the creek to the sawmill, located on the north bank of the Clark Fork, near where the Higgins St. Bridge is located today. This ditch provided the main water supply for the city of Missoula.
In 1871 or 71, Frank Worden and Company began construction of a water system that diverted water from Rattlesnake Creek about 3.5 miles north of town through a system of wooden pipes into a smaller reservoir on what is now Waterworks Hill.
The Mountain Water Power Company built 10 dams on eight lakes in the present day Rattlesnake Wilderness area between 1911 and 1923 to augment the water supply for the City of Missoula. These dams and water rights were sold to Mountain Water Company in 1979 and are still operated and maintained today as a backup water supply for the City of Missoula.
By the early 1880’s increasing demands were placed on the Rattlesnake water system and the creek dried up by the fall of 1885. In response, Rattlesnake farmers filed water rights on the High Falls Tributary of Rattlesnake Creek and set about finding other lakes they could tap to sustain flows during summer and fall. Clarence Prescott and John Higgins found several lakes for this purpose and names seven of them. Ditches were dug from some of the lakes to convey water Rattlesnake Creek, increasing the annual amount from 3,000 to 17,000 inches.
While the upper Rattlesnake was utilized as the main source of water for the city and for farmers and settlers in the upper valley, the lower Rattlesnake remained largely undeveloped until the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1883.
