Arizona weekly citizen., 1888-08-04
The Arid West and Irrigation.
tGatd, For,st)

Throughout the greater portion of a
 region covering something Ike one
 third Of the total area ot ihe United
 States, nos including AiEsks, the snnUA
 rainfsll IS SO emsll Bt, except ID spots
 here and thsre, the land IS no. srab.t
 unless srtIticislly vatered. This re
 glon has it's western boundary at the
 Sierra Nevada, and. Tn somr petitions
 At the Coast Range of the Pacific: il
 comprises ihe country from the nos therp
 to the OaiEeTn frontier. including the
 great basin between the S:erras and the
 hjoky Mountains, the high plains to the
 eastward of tho latter, and a large | portion of western Texas. Until within
 comparatively few years the most of this greet expBnse has been known opIy
 Tn the vsEuest way R"d it was regarded
 Es a hopelesI desert, fit only for mining
 or. ID limited way for cattle rapOes
 To be sure over 6 generation has passed since the MOrmOns turned the heart of
 thls region into rich garden, and fnr
 years Utah has possessed a popuIstior
 sufficient for statehood. SO far as purn-
 bers are concerned, Utah has sfforja- practical example of what rnlgh. be accomplished throughout large p-o- portion of iEis region, much ot which IS even superior to the Salt Lake VaI- Icy m natural advantages of climate ana water .sapPiy. But our people have been slow Id supplying the expsriencsz ot one Lea iiy 70 the requiremsu.a l.f | smother, and the Norm Ja lesson Ions went unheeded,
 Now, however. this reyiop ia vEeiI ,a. ct Gted by transcon,InentsI rsiIrsy l,N.. and their branches. and it's cbaTsc,ari- tlcs have teos me more widely kncvr The most of the land of the nstionsi comain that are arabic under po.rr-I coId''ohs are nov occupisd the croEd- inS -ihiS!siiou has pressed its front IHuAs vel t5FWard into the arid belts. | mo DO eAliea SGe GtteatiCn tO the caDa- Otliies Or 'le land there. Toe nsx; ,hbptet Ct tne greatest migratory move meEt oi iacde5n times, the settlement Ii the Ame FlcHn repu 6lic, will be the more complete occupation Ci the Psc lc slope and The filling up of these great uihhd arid regions that recent invaatI- cations show to have been well ipbsb- !tu Uy m a sedenary aboriginal populs- ion. The develop meut of ihe reFonT- les ot a thlrd part of cur naiIouaI fer ltory, sudcealy found Co bs of orsst 'alue instead of substantially wor,bIess s Therefore @ matter of vital importancs nd demands careful consideration as "a he most efficient means of carrying if ut. Even thoug but fractional n-o . ''r;ion of the entire area should prove U Tor cultivation it would still re,v onslderaoly extend the immigration. us'alning capacity of our coupfrv. fo, isioiy ana sprehlstory both show ma populations Although irrigation has accompanied le hillng of the ground from time m Y emorisl, and probably, indeed eaxa nth to agriculture, and therevitb c;v;- zsilon its self, and while yas. rae;ons our own continent were m rrs-Co9 i11 m 9ian }. times made fertile thereby. \ III It has been comparatively uuknoTn s The American husbandmep un,II vs,v : ieiy. Now, however, its adysn,sSss oegining to be perceived evsn hs. nd The eunfnes of the and dIst,iess