Nuggets from Helena: Water flowed from the Yaw Yaw ditch in city’s early days

“Bartender, give me a whiskey ditch!”

In Helena 1865, you may have heard those words. What the person wants is a shot of whiskey mixed with water from the ditch, aka ditch water.

Ditch water filled a water barrel at the saloon. Thanks to the Yaw Yaw ditch, the whiskey had its partner. Long before water pipes, Helena’s water flowed through ditches/flumes.

The first ditch built in Helena was named the Yaw Yaw. Its name came from the common response to a miner’s demand: “We need more water.” His partner responded, “Yaw, yaw, more water.”

In early spring of 1865, the business of ditching began. The Yaw Yaw collected water from Ten Mile Creek about one-half mile upstream of today’s Broadwater Hot Springs; where the creek is squeezed by the hills. The ditch water flowed northeasterly to near today’s Benton Avenue/Euclid Avenue intersection.

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The ditch continued toward today’s Federal Reserve Bank building, then it rambled on toward Dry Gulch, near today’s Davis Street/Rodney Street/Helena Avenue area. In July of 1865, the Yaw Yaw ditch first began carrying water in a flume, 5 1/2 miles in length.

The Yaw Yaw made water available

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