Historic Irrigation Ditch

Long before the settlers came, the Southern Paiute drew water from the Virgin River to their crops — the first people to dig irrigation ditches in this country. When Brigham Young called thirty-three families to colonize here in 1862, they took up the same problem: how to coax a living from a beautiful, punishing place and hold a flood-prone river back. This hand-laid ditch of red sandstone, built sometime between 1898 and 1918 and dug back out in 2022, is a piece of the network that kept Springdale and Rockville alive when Grafton, Adventure, and Shunesburg could not.

What the plaque says

The Southern Paiute people utilized water from the Virgin River. They are believed to be the first people to dig ditches for irrigation in the area. In 1862, Brigham Young called 33 families to colonize this beautiful but formidable place. Near small oases at canyon streams and along the river, intrepid pioneers began to carve out a cluster of villages surrounded by swaths of isolated land. During early settlement and development eras, earthen water irrigation and control systems were built to nurture crops which included sorghum, maize, and fruit orchards, as well as to protect their efforts from the flood-prone river. The red sandstone ruddle and rough mortar of this particular irrigation system suggests this was built between 1898 and 1918. Grafton, Adventure, and Shunesburg, would not survive the area's unique set of conditions and challenges; but the communities of Springdale and Rockville remain extant today in no small part due to the beauty and draw of what was to become Zion National Park. As Springdale slowly evolved from an agricultural village to a scenic destination, early pioneer canals and rough mortar retaining walls such as this (excavated 2022) were replaced with more efficient and aesthetic masonry curbs, gutters and irrigation canals within the town centers. Additional information about this irrigation ditch and it's history, along with photographs, can be found on the Town website accessed by scanning this QR Code.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Springdale — 0.4 mi
  Zion's south-entrance gateway town, wedged between the Watchman and the Virgin River
• Zion–Mount Carmel Tunnel — 3.2 mi
  A mile-long tunnel blasted through Zion's sandstone in 1930, with windows cut in the cliff for light
• Canyon Overlook Trail — 3.3 mi
  A short, exposed hike just east of the tunnel to a thousand-foot view down into Zion Canyon
• Grafton Ghost Town — 4.7 mi
  A photogenic ghost town used in the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

More markers nearby

• Discovery of Zion Canyon — 0.3 mi
• Birth of a Park — 0.6 mi
• Zion Mt. Carmel Tunnel and Highway — 2.1 mi
• Rockville Bridge — 3.4 mi