The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1879-12-10
DESERT LANDS
Artesinn Welis-The Utes-Rniiroads
Coast Matters

Artesian Welis-The Utes-Rniiroads
Coast Matters
Washington, Dec. 9.-The bill intro
duced to-day by Senator Hill, of Colo
RADIO, ''For the reclamation of the arid
and waste lands" possesses much in
terest for all the states and territories
west of the one hundredth meridian,
where vast tracts of land, now lying
entirely idle, or only scantily used for
stock raising purposes by a compara-
lively small number of individuals who
control the few water courses by which
they are traversed. Senator Hill be-
lieves that most, if not all, of these
lands can be made available either for
cultivation or for stock raising by
means of artesian wells, and as the
government owns nearly all of these
unstable lands it can well afford to
take the risk of boring to greater
depths than a private enterprise feels
justified in doing upon mere chance
of making public lands worth purchas-
ing. His bill, therefore. directs the
secretary of the interior to contract
for the sinking of five artisan wells;
two in Colorado on the plains east of
the Rocky mountains, and three at
such other places as the secretary may
designate in the states and territories
west of the Rocky mountains, and ap-
propriates s50,00O for this purpose.
1t is also provided that the contractors
shall report weekly the character of the
ground or rock through which the bor-
ing progresses, giving the thicknesses
of the strata and samples of the ma
terial encountered.
Senator Hill says one well has been
sunk in Colorado 1900 feet without
success, but he is confident that deeper
borings in the same locality, or less
deep boring in others, will strike as
abundant supplies of water as have
been found, without as much expendi-
ture, in California.
Senator Hill says the bill introduced
by him to-day, providing for negotia-
tion to effect the removal of the peace
full Utes from Colorado by their own
consent, is drawn in accordance with
the intentions of the administration,
and that he offers this provision be-
cause he does not believe that the more
radical measures introduced by his
colleagues have any chance of passage,
and he desires to labor for something
that he considers practicable of ac-
complishment.
The California delegation have bad
several conferences with Superinteud-
ent Walker in regard to the best man
ner of dividing California into the three
census districts allotted to that state,
| and it is agreed that the division shall
be substantially as follows:
San Francisco and all the southern
coast counties are to form one district.
The remainder of Pacheco's congress
sional district and nearly all of Pages
will form another, and Berry's district,
with five of Pages counties in conve-
nient juxtaposition, will constitute the
third.
Secretary Schurz has agreed to hear
oral arguments in the San Francisco
Pueblo case, now before him on an
appeal from that portion of Commits
sioner Williams decision, which re-
lated to the boundaries of the Preside
reservation. A final decision therefor
will be further delayed.
Negotiations are on foot for the pur-
chase of all of the Texas Pacific rail-
road company's lands in Texas by the
| Anglo-American land association, a
financially powerful organization, con-
trolled principally in Edinburg. The
| proposition is to contract to pay fol-
the whole body of lands at the mini
mum price Of fifty cents per acre With
in fifteen years, as fast as this associa-
tion colonies them, and to make an
Immediate cash payment of say one
million dollars in advance of the colo
nization.