New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-03-01
m RECLAIM AN ARID STATE.
,,,vo,uNcs GREAT IRRIGATION WORK IN
THE BIG HORN BASIN.
r,o, Utilizing A TORRENT THAT FALLS
100 FEET IN 1888 MIIEs-4coooo ACRES OF
land TO BE MADE FERTILE


LAND TO BE MADE FERTILE.
Ahou, a year and a half ago Congress ceded TO
rsrsl Of the arid States 100000 acres each OF the
rhuc domain 70 aid in defraying the cost OF irri-
sa,,on for development OF the agricultural re-
,ro.s one OF he States SO benefited was Wyo-
,,s Her area comprises 62.6n,6o0 acres. but her
..rlcul,ural products. II dependent upon the rain
s'r .,- noo,s,ening the earth. probably would not
satisfactorily supply one small town. According 70
~. Government meteorological reports. the annual
recini,stion OF both rain and snow amounts to
-. :, N ~ inches only. Heavy snowfals oc-
80, high among the mountains. and the warm
chinook" winds. sweeping up from the Pacific
CHM, melt the snow. feeding large streams But
,bese rivers do not. Ike those OF the East. carry
ter,ilIty to the lowlands. They course swiftly
,,rouch deep rocky gorges, often more than hun
drsd feet below the level Of the parched and bar
,cn plains bordering them. and often are. for long
s,s,ances. quite inaccessible even for the watering
Of stock.
These are the adverse conditions prevailing In the
s-ea, Big Horn Basin. which. IN the northwest cor
~, OF the State. IL contained In country Just
sbout as large the State Of Massachusetts, IRIS
h.s,n Professor Powell recognizes the bed OF an
ancient lake. the boundaries OF which are clearly
defined by mountain ranges The Pryor range
hounds II on the north. the Big Horn mountains
n, .he cast the Owl Creek chain the south. ara
r, the west are the detached Shoshone. Nind RIVER
srl Gros Ventre lines Of peaks. Into ana across
,hc basin run lower ranges OF mountains-ohce' ~
doubt chains Of islands in the vast eXpanse OF water
n spur OF the Owl Creek range. the Sheep Noun
o,ns and a range that takes Is name from us p''
opal peak. Mccullough Mountain. Along the east
.-n side of the basin. about two hundred mies
P,ws the Big Horn River a stream or consiue'"oic
nnenitule, but impracticab,e for any usc'ul GIN
uoyment under existing conditions Crossing 'ie
l,sn n It's widest part. in a somewhat u'"so.'a' VI
,ac.ion a distance Of abou. one hundred ana ioI''
rn1es Is the shoshone River THIS stream is ho''
naturally Of any greater utility than the other.
From, where It bursts out OF the foothNls 10 us
junction with the Big Horn River II has f"i' OF
$50 feet and for almost all tbs distance "o"s
through a narrow cleft leo feet beio" '"e 'eNe' Vi
the plains. So far as any seTvice n@efui 10 ma"
&c concerned. II might jus, as we'll 80 straight down
- ,ha c.r.rs ~ ~, earth But engineers saw that
iy tapping +, high up above. where Ii enters 'ne
r,sln and carving its water through an elaborate
system O, d!tchrs ths Shoshone might y, mace
available for the thorough lrr cation OF vast area
~ tho regularly terracel olluvia lands that once
w-re the lake bed
FERTILITY OF THE SOIL"
Woo ,hose lands worth such Effort for Their
,ac,ama,irno Their appearance might wcH nave
a,soorrarcd even the most optimistic. Far as the
owe conld see toward the mountains hemm'nS 'he'h
IN. they seemed a very Sahara. Nothing grew on
,na,, .xceot hero and there clumps OF stuntef
bush scaniy benches OF bur al' Srass ana 80"
,crel dwarf forms OF cacti Yet, the eye OF expert
once saw virtue in the soil. It's Only lack was o'-
,,,vod 20 he water To determine If this was so or
~, exhaustive md costly experiments were MADE
II was found that with irrigation. this SOIL was
c,noh,e of developing astonishing fertility wheat
Welded seventy bushels 20 the acre; potatoes as
much as 1902 bushels: alfalfa three crops In sea-
SON. and all other products in like bountfn proper
ton Here the State Government determined to
Mt VITO hp
lands and last summer q contract was made win
8 corporattop chartered under the name OF the
shoshone Land Irrigation Company, the nhappio
,ria.ed waters of the Shoshonc River being ccded
to II for that purpose
The Shoshone Land and Irrigation Company -
composed of Colonel W. +. Cody, famous aS
buffalo BIZ; his old partner. Mate" Salisbury
cao-g. Plestcln proprietor OF THE Bufalo Cour-
,er": Bronson Rumsey. of Buffalo; George i. becN'
son OF Senator Beck. OF Kentucky ana H. < Aise''
Of wyoming. They have undertaken the rris@''o"
OF tract of about G00o acres, at ieas' AVV'V'V
OF which will be. when supphed win "a'e' "i'.r
the richest AGRICULTURAL lands on this continent 10
40 ,b,s ,hev must construct main ditch los miles
I,ny and lateral dtches which. as already proVldeo
.,, in the engineers plans Will nave le"s'" %
80 miles 10 say nothing OF the s"id'i supp'S
bitches which will be eighty Or at most loo iee'
apart according TO the nature OF the trouhu' over
sl the territory covered BY the service In 'ne
,,,,,al construction the main ditch is made e'Ghi
fee, deep and twenty-five feet wide on the oot'oi''
but II is intended eventually to enlarge ,h's ~ :"
cepth of ten feet and bottom width Oh SHY io'"
giving a canal that be used for transportation
,,bA river must be crossed and recrossed BY huge
,umes and there are long stretches OF "ha' are
lnnwn as bad lands" where the parched earth
has cracks OF unknown depth, across when the
ditch must be tin Der conduit and not mere eS-
cayated channe, in The ground In view Of all the
requirements, 1t hardly seems that the estiina'ed
e.
The State o. Wyoming offers Tor SAFE the re-
an acre with certain restrictions. TO prevent f.ng
.sh syndicatcs and other SPECTATORS from set.ns
possession OF large and holding then un.in-
nroved 20 await an increase IN their value through
The development OF adjacent lands by the en0rts
OF actual settlers the amount o; land that WI, DC
sold 10 one person has been r.adly restricted 10
100 acres No title will be given until the intend.
wn the ot wa.1 10 his and The State has
81 one wser az SIS an 0' acre Su, the eOmpany
view encouraging settlers has es,aplsneo .ns
CATION of farming lands. and arranged that th.:
may be paid in instruments. GOVERN. term Of
an annual charge but the total cost. for all time
TO come as long az there shall be any zig Horn
outlay OF 81 $50 will put man In possession Of
half a square mile Of good farming land. where he
Of the weather which constantly threaten at, tho
farmers whose unhappy lot 1t Is not 10 I'VE IN an
ard State.
THE WORK UNDER WAY.
Operat.ons on the line Of the main ditch were
begun In September last. under the engineering d.
rection OF T. Hayden and K. Vanderveldt One
hundred and five were employed. working
from three camps, and by the time winter set In
the first section. twelve miles In length. had been
finished In some respects this WAS the hardest
part OF the work. 1t was high up In the hills,
where the soil instead 0. being soft alluvial de-
pos!t. as II Is below. is covered and filled with
powders Large ploughs each drawn by eight
mules were employed 10 break up this compact
mass OF obstacles and the labor involved was ex-
ceed.nzly severe.
AT the lower end OF the first section the diverted
stream Is dropped sheer down depth OF 10 feet
the first OF several such pungcs-to what may prop