A Simple ingenious tool

In the late 1800s, settlers of Virgin Valley crafted a simple yet ingenious tool to irrigate their farms without surveyors—the Straddle Bridge. This 16-foot-long, 4-foot-wide wooden frame, supported by trusses and topped with a beam, used strings attached with plumb bobs to show both level and slope. With it, pioneers could dig evenly graded canals by hand, adjusting the fall as they went.

Fields in Bunkerville and Mesquite were laid out to slope toward the Virgin River. Canals were then dug upriver to a hand-built brush-and-rock dam, which raised the water into the channel and allowed it to flow back down toward the fields. As new land was cleared, canals were extended three miles through rocky hills in Bunkerville and over six miles through shifting sand in Mesquite.

The Straddle Bridge made it possible to maintain proper elevation without costly delays. With teamwork, shovels and this homemade tool, early farmers turned harsh desert into fertile farmland. Their clever design and relentless labor laid the foundation for thriving agricultural communities, proof that resourcefulness and grit can make even the driest land bloom.