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The river changing course or not reaching the gulf over a sustained period of time was not a totally unusual event. Over the centuries nature changed the course of the river any number of times, often drastically. The following paragraph, from the source so cited, says it best:

In the distant past, the Gulf of California, which the Colorado river flows into, extended 150 miles further inland from its present shore. There it formed a large bay that was 50 miles wide. Each year the river deposited over 140,000 acre feet of silt at the rivers delta. This is enough to cover 214 square miles in 1 foot of soil. Eventually these accumulated deposits grew so thick as to seal off the upper portion of the gulf. Cut off from the river, the water that remained formed a huge lake eventually named Lake Cahuilla. When the Colorado flooded, its waters would spill into this lake. Over time, flooding, local run-off and evaporation made this a salt water lake.(source)

CLICK IMAGE TO SEE THE FORMATION OF LAKE CAHUILLA

In 1936 a Gene Autry movie titled Red River Valley was released. Briefly the storyline revolves around water rights in the old west, more specifically a place called Red River Valley. A banker and his henchmen, in order to gain any profits for themselves and control the region, are sabotaging efforts by local citizens and ranchers to secure water rights. After five men overseeing the completion of the irrigation system were murdered Gene Autry is hired to prevent any more killings, further damage or possible sabotage, and ensure the completion of the dam.

The irrigation system and dam used in the film is actually the Laguna Dam along the Lower Colorado River. Below is a link that will take you to an archived video of he film, albeit renamed Man of the Frontier, given it for a later release. The movie has a number of really good scenes of the dam and what it looked like when it was fully functional, especially at the very beginning. Remember, the film was made and released in 1936, not many years after the major upstream dams were built and about 20 years after Laguna dam was put into operation.

RED RIVER VALLEY

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(click either image for movie)

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VIKINGS OF THE DESERT SOUTHWEST

LAGUNA DAM COLORADO RIVER

LOST SHIP OF THE DESERT

COTTONWOOD ISLAND

THE DESERT SHIP: A LEGEND, OR TWO

THE WESTERNER COMICS, DECEMBER 1950 ISSUE #31

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LOST SHIP OF THE DESERT

UNCLE SCROOGE COMICS, SEPTEMBER 1954 ISSUE #7

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