Flume holds history on canyon walls By Nate Thompson , Cortez Journal Online – Cortez Colorado

A few miles northwest of Naturita, a sleepy town in Montrose County, state Highway 141 winds past the remnants of a structure that is garnering attention from historians, engineers, archaeologists and climbers. A research team arrived Monday to spend a week studying the significance of one of Colorado’s longest historic sites.

Started in 1888 and finished in 1891, a 13-mile hanging flume built along the Dolores River delivered water to a now defunct mining project.