Daily Yellowstone journal., 1891-09-29
IRRIGATION.
Hon. W.. A. Clark of Butte Dis
cources F E1tIil, nd Intel
ligently on the 10 Land
Q0estI
He Recites the &any and Great
Benefits the State of Mon
tana VIII Reap from
Irrigation.

Hon. w. A. Clarke Of Butte was
oOe Of MOntsna's delegates to the irri
gation congress at SALT Lake. AS he
is a gentleman who takes a great
interest in anything that works TO the
states advancement his views on the
probable result Of the deliberations at
Salt Lake will no doubt be OF interest
TO this community. In recent in
terview on the subject he said:
The subject is of fascinating inter-
est, and the more a. il considered, the
greater interest IL creates. To Mon
taDa II is a question Of much impor.
lance, and our new state will derive
more benefit from the practical solu-
ton Of the question than any Of The
other states and territories that were
represented In the congress.
Montana has 20, ,OO0, 900 acres ofland
thst can be reclaimed by irrigation.
At present we have only about ] ,OO0, 900
acres under cultivation, and what a
grand thing It wonld be to convert,
say even 5000. 900 or 10000 900 acres
mere into tillable soil. Until this en-
pire Of land Is msde eirrigatable We can
not expect a very large increase of pop
ulation. Almost all Of the available
and for farming is now occupied and
IL Is 10 subject this immense area, now
wasting, to cultivation; as well rs the
arid land Of other states, that the irri-
CATION congress is working for.
II think it suggests the most feasible
way for placing the matter before con
gTess. There were 400 PEOPLE IN the
/ Salt Lake convention, whi h shows
that a live interes, il msnifest' d in the
question. Resolutions which have been
published will be presented tocongIess
by influential men, beaded by Cover
nor Thomas of u U.ah The plan OF
action adopted at Salt Lake il to first
| get the national government to cede
Ia the states and territories in the arid
and sub humid regions the Ownership
and control Of the public lands, inelUd-
I
After this Is accomplished it IL pro-
posei that the state legislatures shall
devise ways and means to provide
for the building OF reservoirs, canals
and artssian wells that will be required
to carry On . Oper system Of irriga-
tiOn. Montana has numerous natural
, reservoir sites in it's mountainous dis
tricLs, and water sufficient to food the
state. Within Montana lies the great
est water sheds that swell the current
OF the Missouri river in the east arl
the Columbia in the west.
"The object in leaving the control o
the timber lands to the states is obvious
IL IL to protect the timber and tn,
forestH. for without them we could no
harvest the snow and the wSter in the
mountains, which now feeds q thou
sand streams.
"But the principal reason for secur
ing 10 the states control Of these landI
l. that congress Is too slow In meetins
the requirements Of the people Of th,
west. The people Of the west are MOI
made of the mettle which permits then
To cit back and await the convenienc,
of slow-going bodies. They realize
and the congress at Salt Lake demon
strated this fact, that men who maxi
up the national government are no
sufficiently acquainted with the I'm.
portance Of the irrigation question 4
give II the consideration IL merits, anC
are therefore Indifferent. Again tn,
slow movements Of the machinery q
Washington sre known to be such
that even though congress decided {,
take ap the question they could no
solve II 20 the satisfaction Of the peo
pie. Within The past few years som,
attention has been paid to irrigation
but what has been accomplished
Two appropriations, aggregating,
believe, $3.50. 600, were made for ths
use Of toe national engineering de.
partment to acquire information as d
how much land can be reclaimed by
irrigation ana where reservoir could
be located advantageously. This work
was left tn Msjor Powell Of the geolog-
ical survey. and = large number oi
typographical r"aps were made. The
engineers stated that these maps were
practically useless as an intelligent
guide, and yet Major Powell insists
that a typographical survey Of the
whole arid reelon will be necessary
first.
According to bis programme we
viii all be Ia our graves before any