Benjamin Harrison Eaton - Later Career

Later Career

Eaton expanded his operations from farming into contracting, specializing in the building of irrigation canals and reservoirs, a business he heavily promoted as a means of bringing growth and wealth to Larimer and Weld Counties. In 1873, in association with John C. Abbott, he built what later became known as Larimer County Canal No. 2 which watered large areas of land west, south, and southwest of Fort Collins. In 1878 he began construction of the Larimer and Weld Canal, once known as the Eaton Ditch, which at the time was the largest and longest irrigation canal in the state. In 1879 he built the High Line Canal in Denver for a group of British investors. He later built the Windsor Reservoir near present-day Windsor, and well as many other smaller water projects throughout Larimer and Weld counties. He died in 1904 at Greeley.