Making the desert bloom, 100 years ago Today, we take the crops rising from the arid Snake River Plain for granted, but it wasn't always so. The antiquated flume, or what's left of it, was part of an ambitious plan to make the desert bloom without using a drop of Snake River water. The first settlers staked their claims to the land it would transform 100 years ago Sunday. They came from states across the country on Oct. 12, 1908 in hopes of having their names drawn from a barrel for a chance to own a piece of the land that would be watered by the new King Hill Irrigation and Power Co. None were famous, and many of their stories are forgotten, but they helped shape what became their part of Idaho. The new life for the 306 settlers had its beginnings a decade earlier, with a plan to bring water from the Malad River to the King Hill, Glenns Ferry and Hammett areas. The Snake was closer, but diverting Snake River water would have been expensive, and pumps that could lift it to where it was needed were yet to be invented. The plan called for building a siphon suspended on a trestle above the Snake River. Water from the Malad River would cross over the Snake through the siphon and flow over 20 miles through a canal-and flume-system. Conceived in the 1890s, the idea evolved over a succession of backers, competitors and modifications before the first water was delivered in 1909....