Hillsboro Ditch Rider: Charles A. Lory
Johnstown founder and mayor, Harvey J. Parish, was president of the Hillsboro Ditch Company and instrumental in bringing irrigation water to the Big Thompson Valley in Weld County. As of June 2016, there are currently nine ditches, three ditch exchanges, and lateral and transfer ditches pulling water out of the Big Thompson. Head gates for the Hillsboro Ditch are at County Road 9 between East First Street and Colorado 402. The ditch extends from the south bank, some five miles below Loveland, in a curve around to and across the Little Thompson where there is a reservoir to aid in regulating the distribution of water. The ditch is 18 miles long, covers nearly 9,000 acres, and irrigates 5,000ish acres.
In the spring of 1893, Charles A. Lory was hired by Parish as a ditch rider along this ditch. His duties included assisting in the repairs of the diversion dam, rating flume, tending many head gates, and supervising the cleaning of the canal. He rode horseback and was required to ride the bank of the canal distributing allotments of water to farmers. He spent long days in the saddle riding his 10 miles of the canal twice a day. You my be thinking, why do I recognize Lory's name? Charles A. Lory was president of Colorado State University in Ft. Collins from 1909 to 1940. Today you may standing where Lory once rode his horse as "Ditch Rider on the Hillsboro Ditch."
CONGRATULATIONS quinnster212 for being FTF on June 2, 2020. Thank you for taking the time to read the history of Dr. Lory, Harvey Parish, and the Hillsboro Ditch and their connection to Johnstown.
Hillsboro Ditch Rider: Charles A. Lory
| Difficulty: 
| Terrain: 
7 
1