Ira Burton Perrine arrived in the Shoshone Falls area in 1884 and initially homesteaded at the bottom of the Snake River Canyon, where he raised cattle and planted orchards.
He later became involved in the tourist business, starting a ferry and a stagecoach service, and building the Blue Lakes Hotel.
However, Perrine is best known for his role in the economic development of southern Idaho based on massive irrigation projects, and consequentially, the periodic drying of Shoshone Falls.
In 1900 the Twin Falls Land and Water Company was incorporated and filed claim for 3,000 cubic feet per second (85 m³/s) of water from the Snake River.
Perrine's ultimate goal was to irrigate 500,000 acres (200,000 ha) of land.
Although this would have been impermissible in other parts of the western US, due to regulations such as those under the Homestead Act which limited each settler's claim to 160 acres (65 ha), Perrine's project fell under the boundaries of the 1894 Carey Act, which allowed private companies to construct large-scale irrigation systems in desert regions where the task would be far too great for individual settlers.

Perrine proposed the diversion of the Snake River at Caldron Linn, a point approximately 24 miles (39 km) upstream of Shoshone Falls.
Senator Clark and others who owned land at Shoshone Falls filed a lawsuit against the Twin Falls Land and Water Company, but were defeated in the Idaho Supreme Court in 1904.
The Milner Dam and the major canals required to deliver water were completed by 1905. "
On March 1, 1905, Frank Buhl gave a ceremonial pull on the wheel on a winch and the gates of Milner Dam were closed, and the gates to a thousand miles of canal and laterals were opened, and the Snake River was diverted, and that night Shoshone Falls went dry as the water rushed across the desert far above, and Perrine's vision was realized, and 262,000 acres of desert were shortly transformed."

The reclamation of vast tracts of desert into productive farmland practically overnight led to the regional moniker of "Magic Valley".
Powered entirely by gravity, it was "a rare successful example" of private irrigation development under the Carey Act.
The city of Twin Falls was incorporated in 1905, on lands originally platted for town development as part of the irrigation project.
In 1913, Perrine built an electric streetcar system to transport tourists from Twin Falls to the Shoshone Falls.
In part due to the intervention of World War I which resulted in short supply of iron, the rail line was never completed as planned.
The post-war rise in automobile ownership also made the line obsolete, and it was de-commissioned in 1916.

The Shoshone Falls Power Plant was completed in 1907 by the Greater Shoshone and Twin Falls Water Power Company.
A low head diversion dam (the Shoshone Falls Dam) was built directly upstream of the falls and diverted water into a penstock, further reducing the amount of water flowing over the falls.
The plant initially had a capacity of 500 kilowatts (KW).
The plant was purchased by Idaho Power in 1916.
Over the years the power plant was expanded and ultimately replaced with newer units capable of generating 12,500 KW.
Currently about 950 cubic feet per second (27 m³/s) are required to run the plant at full capacity.
In 2015 Idaho Power released a plan to increase the capacity to 64,000 KW, which would increase the water diversions and consequently effect even greater reductions of the water available to flow over the falls.
Ira Burton Perrine arrived in the Shoshone Falls area in 1884 and initially homesteaded at the bottom of the Snake River Canyon, where he raised cattle and planted orchards. He later became involved in the tourist business, starting a ferry and a stagecoach service, and building the Blue Lakes Hotel. However, Perrine is best known for his role in the economic development of southern Idaho based on massive irrigation projects, and consequentially, the periodic drying of Shoshone Falls. In 1900 the Twin Falls Land and Water Company was incorporated and filed claim for 3,000 cubic feet per second (85 m³/s) of water from the Snake River. Perrine's ultimate goal was to irrigate 500,000 acres (200,000 ha) of land. Although this would have been impermissible in other parts of the western US, due to regulations such as those under the Homestead Act which limited each settler's claim to 160 acres (65 ha), Perrine's project fell under the boundaries of the 1894 Carey Act, which allowed private companies to construct large-scale irrigation systems in desert regions where the task would be far too great for individual settlers.
Perrine proposed the diversion of the Snake River at Caldron Linn, a point approximately 24 miles (39 km) upstream of Shoshone Falls. Senator Clark and others who owned land at Shoshone Falls filed a lawsuit against the Twin Falls Land and Water Company, but were defeated in the Idaho Supreme Court in 1904. The Milner Dam and the major canals required to deliver water were completed by 1905. "On March 1, 1905, Frank Buhl gave a ceremonial pull on the wheel on a winch and the gates of Milner Dam were closed, and the gates to a thousand miles of canal and laterals were opened, and the Snake River was diverted, and that night Shoshone Falls went dry as the water rushed across the desert far above, and Perrine's vision was realized, and 262,000 acres of desert were shortly transformed."
The reclamation of vast tracts of desert into productive farmland practically overnight led to the regional moniker of "Magic Valley". Powered entirely by gravity, it was "a rare successful example" of private irrigation development under the Carey Act. The city of Twin Falls was incorporated in 1905, on lands originally platted for town development as part of the irrigation project. In 1913, Perrine built an electric streetcar system to transport tourists from Twin Falls to the Shoshone Falls. In part due to the intervention of World War I which resulted in short supply of iron, the rail line was never completed as planned. The post-war rise in automobile ownership also made the line obsolete, and it was de-commissioned in 1916.
The Shoshone Falls Power Plant was completed in 1907 by the Greater Shoshone and Twin Falls Water Power Company. A low head diversion dam (the Shoshone Falls Dam) was built directly upstream of the falls and diverted water into a penstock, further reducing the amount of water flowing over the falls. The plant initially had a capacity of 500 kilowatts (KW). The plant was purchased by Idaho Power in 1916. Over the years the power plant was expanded and ultimately replaced with newer units capable of generating 12,500 KW. Currently about 950 cubic feet per second (27 m³/s) are required to run the plant at full capacity. In 2015 Idaho Power released a plan to increase the capacity to 64,000 KW, which would increase the water diversions and consequently effect even greater reductions of the water available to flow over the falls.
Shoshone Falls