Government Records
The Board of Drainage Commissioners of the State of Minnesota succeeded the Red River Valley Drainage Commission in 1897, and consisted of three members appointed by the governor (Laws 1897 c318). The commission's composition was changed in 1901 to consist of the governor, the state auditor, and the secretary of state, and its formal name became the Drainage Commission of the State of Minnesota (Laws 1901 c90). The commission appointed a state drainage engineer, who performed or supervised work carried out under the commission's auspices.
The commission's function was to establish priorities for, and arrange for the construction of, ditches needed to drain wetlands belonging to the state so as to make them suitable for farming. It also supervised all of the state drainage ditches, inspected the ditches annually, and reported their condition to the counties in which they were located. Details of ditch survey, authorization, and construction procedures are specified in General Laws 1905 c230.
The Drainage Commission was abolished effective April 25, 1919, and all of its powers and authority were transferred to the newly created Department of Drainage and Waters (Laws 1919 c471).
State Drainage Engineers: George A. Ralph, 1901-1913; E. V. Willard (acting), 1914-1919.
Accession number(s): None; 256; 2006-34
Catalog ID Nos.: 1703265 (history); 1710415.
Letters and petitions from county residents, largely regarding the need for, proposals for, construction of, and complaints about drainage ditches.
Aitkin, Beltrami, Clearwater, Hubbard, Kittson, Marshall, Otter Tail, Polk, Renville, St. Louis, Scott, Stevens, Todd, and Traverse.
List of ditches completed, 1894-1902; letter regarding completion of ditches in the Red River Valley, April 1903; court order for a survey of Judicial Ditch No. 4 in Kandiyohi and Meeker counties, September 1905; affidavit of Carl Ringstrom claiming damages from overflow of the Mustinka River resulting from a state ditch, January 1909; report to the U.S. Corps of Engineers from the Citizens' Association of Stillwater recommending a canal connecting Lake Superior and the Mississippi River, May 1909; and miscellaneous letters.
Mostly accepted bids.
Letters accusing Ralph of misusing commission funds and defending him against these allegations, and the commission's investigative report exonerating him of wrongdoing.
Letters of application and recommendation.
Reports, legal documents, and financial statements regarding the status of a claim by the State of Minnesota v the Empire State Surety Company in connection with a bond covering the construction of State Ditch No. 84.
A U.S. Interior Department printed report to Congress, Examinations for the Drainage of Lands, 60th Cong. 1st Sess., Senate Doc. No. 151, 1908; a U.S. Geological Survey map of the United States showing swamp lands and drainage survey areas, undated; and a map, Drainage Plan of Mud Lake District, Minnesota, 1906.
A handwritten copy of North Dakota Senate Bill No. 14: Memorial and Concurrent Resolution to Prevent the Overflow and Improve Navigation of the Red River, requesting an appropriation for a survey to formulate plans and determine the expense of constructing dams for flood control.
Blueprint map, 18" x 57", rolled. Scale: 800" : 1". Shows landowners on each side of the ditch, with dates [of their acquisition of the land?].
Petition from residents, legislative bill (S.F. 797), two letters, and a map relating to a request for an appropriation of state funds to straighten, widen, deepen, and otherwise improve the Wild Rice River in Norman County, in order to prevent annual overflows caused by state and county drainage ditches channeling water into the river beyond its carrying capacity. The blueprint survey map is apparently of a proposed ditch to alleviate the problem (Mary-Lee Ditch No. 27); there is no indication in this file as to whether the ditch was actually built.
Compilation of diagrams for the state's engineers; done as part of Rules and Regulations.
A statement for each county regarding each ditch number, length in miles, number of cubic yards, cost of the ditch, total benefits assessed, and the total number of acres benefited. Also attached to the statements are county maps depicting the location of ditches, and correspondence. Apparently the State Drainage Commission requested this information in 1910, and the information was compiled and submitted by the county auditors. Arranged in alphabetical order by county name.
Alphabetical by county. Each photograph is identified by county and name of lake or dam.
Survey notes of watercourses and of existing and proposed drainage ditches and cutoffs, giving geographical and biological features of the land, level notes and depth soundings of waterways, and related data, and including occasional sketch maps. Most of the several hundred volumes are numbered and identified (name of ditch, river, or other watercourse, and sometimes date). However, they have not been organized, and there is no box contents or volume list.