St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1893-08-03
WYOMING,S RESOURCES.
Some Large Figures from that Part Of
the West.
Correspondence of the cALEpoMANl

now to state briefly the basis of the
wonderful growth Of Northern
Wyoming in general and Sheridan
in particular.
Prominent among the resources oil
this section is the industry in cattle
and horse raising. In the area OF
Sheridan county are l 300, 900 acres,
of which 100000 are wonderfully
adapted for grazing. Reliable
statistics furnished me by the
county clerk report in April, 1898,
$4,000 head of cattle and 10000
horses as ranging upon the various
ranches in the county. These vast
herds Of cattle and horses are quick
~ and safely matured and fitted for
the market without their seeing a
particle of corn, so nutritious are the
native grasses This important and
profitable industry is certainly on
the increase, that of 1892 being
double that of 1891. The increased
demand and better facilities for
market cannot fail to develop it very
largely, as well as make it more
profitable financially. Thus in 1890
the sales of beef by the farmers were
$4,000; in 1891 these figures were
doubled; 1892 saw these figures
again doubled, and 1893 will record
a still larger comparative increase.
Within radius OF 25 miles OF
Sheridan City are fully 100000
acres of rich agricultural land, Of
this 275,000 acres are now under
irrigation and cultivation. There are
700 miles of main bitches and 1000
of lateral bitches completed. The
wheat crop alone of this area would
be 20,000,000 bushels annually, a
sure crop, for drought, the arch
enemy Of the farmer in so many sec
tions, has no terrors under a good
system of irrigation. Wheat, oats,
barley, rye, corn, alfalfa, timothy,
clover, millet, blue grass, potatoes,
fruits and vegetables, all flourish,
the respective yields being proper
tionately heavy, due to the natural
fertility of the soil and low altitude.
The region is potato famous, hav-
ing secured several prizes offered by
the American Agriculturist for the
best yield of the great tuber. Oats
have yielded as high as 131 bushels
per acre, the grain weighing 81
pounds per bushel; 67 bushels of
wheat have been grown to the acre.
A large number of beautiful valleys
are all tributary to Sheridan and are
now occupied by thrifty and pros
porous farmers.
Fourteen miles east of Sheridan in
the big Horn mountains there is
timber enough to supply Nebraska
and Wyoming building material of
every kind. Forty miles west of
Sheridan are the New Bald
mountain gold mines, showing
wonderful prospects. Large invest
ments are now being made there.
Ten miles further west is the Big
Horn basin with million and half
acres of irrigable land, and Sheridan
byits natural location is the only dis
tributing for this whole region of
country.
The falls of Big Goose creek, IA
miles from Sheridan, by means of an
electric wire furnish over 1000 horse
power to the town. Many manu-
featuring enterprises can be cheaply
run by this power, besides running an
electric plant and furnishing heat
for the town at price lower than
that OF coal at one dollar per ton.
Large packing houses ate soon to
be erected in this, the best cattle and
hog country in the West, and several
hundred thousand each of these
animals will be packed annually,
thus making great saving in ship
ping to Eastern markets. The cele-
brated packers at Omaha, the
Cudahys, soon to be the leading
packers of the world, are largely in
terested in Sheridan and the cattle
herds in the vicinity.
Sheridan is division point of the
Burlington and Missouri railroad.
Repair shops are to be built here.
The railroad company own 100
acres of land purchased exclusively
for shops and side tracks. The main
line branches here, one line going
west to Yellowstone Park, the other
line northwest to Helena and Great
Falls, Montana.
Situated opposite the low pass be.
tween Big Horn and Wolf mountains
Sheridan is the gateway for the trade
OF Montana, Idaho, Oregon and
WASHINGTON If &c an tba ,,ne+