The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1896-02-29
Brlle County's Artesian Wells
The Greatest IN the world

The Greatest III the World,
The artesian wells of Brulc county are the
greatcst within given district in the world
greatest in size of bore. greatest in pressure and
srcatesti in volume of water. They are the
wonder of even the wonderful West and are at
tracing so much attention all over the country
| that brief description of them seems appropas
| at this time
1, In early the days of kimbail an adequate water
supply for the town was serious problem.
Chanberlain-at tile west end of tho county
\ constructed system of wuter.works by erecting
| Il pumping plant on tle bank of the Missouri
| nud iorcins the water to IL reservoir upon the
bluffs above the town. As II last resort Kimball
decided totry for an artesian we'll. This was
ten year ngo. At that time there were outside
OF 1anhtnu county less than half dozen arte-
sian wells in the state, and situated Kimball
is, upon the highest point between the Missouri
and the jan river. grave doubts were expressed
of ever stirling flow. But the we'll WAS n suc-
cess, water mains and fire hydrants we're put in
| and complete system of water-works con-
| stTucted ut cost of less than $4,000. The ex-
pense of operating the system during these ten
years has been practically nothing and the re-
| pairs on the we'll have rot exceeded S100 In the
| course of u few year: Chamberlain abandoned
its expensive pumping plant and also sunk an
artcsian WE'LL and which has eSer since fur
| nisled the town with an abundant supply of
| pure water.
| From these ini,iul efforts sprang a desire for
greater water supply all over the county other
than that from the ordinary farm we'll. With
| an abundance of the most nutritious grasses
known Il climate unsurpassed, all it lacked Was
running streams to make it an ideal stock
county and where the business could be engaged
IN on an extensive scale. Under Tie operations
of state law The county began the construction.
Of township artesieE wcllsthe township pay
ing one-fourh the cost the county one-tenth
and individual holdings the remainder, by
special assessment in proportion to benefit re-
ceived, in five annual payments. Twenty of
! those wells have alrcndy been constructed, and
their magnitude will be more readily under
stood when it is stated that nearly everyone of
them is capable of fcrcinG water through fifteen
miles of ditches the bitches being about the
size OF ordinary meadow brooks. Tho county
now has over 800 miles of running streams, In
addition TO the Missouri on the border. No
county i'll Iowa and Illinois is SO we'll supplied
with running water. TIE water from the we'll
Is OF high temperature. varying fiom 20 to S.
degrees and ms purc as spring water, without its
chilling effect. In addition to the running
streams, large lakes are frequent, tho one in
hlmball covering % acres and affording boating
and fishing in the summer. skating in the winter
ant from which is gathered an abundance of
| the purest ice.
| Curing the past two yeats irrigation exneri-
nents on Il small scale have been made by indi-
vidual farmers tapping tho streams from the
township wells and with such wonderful success
| that Drivuln lis nra NOW un,n,, ,lnup ava,
| the county. few were put down last year and
nearly paid for themselves with one crop. BY
the time tho planting season arrives in 1886 it is
safe to estimate that the county will have fUrty
artesian wells all told, sending out millions of
gallons of water every twcnty-four hours. Four
| extensive irrigation plants will have been con-
\ structed-one hns already been completed
ing from 5000 to $4,000 each, in addition to
| other private plants on smaller scale. Over
| lu,oD acres will be irrigated in 1896 fr0m these
private wells, and all of the wells except one or
two are SIX aLd eight inches in diameter and
tluw fron SO to 60 barrels minute.
/ 1T is peculiar feature that in no other part of
the state or in the world, for that matter-arc
arteaian wells found Of such uniform pressure
ard volume as IN Brule county. Wells which
throw u solid six or eight inch stream three feet
above the opening of the pipe are common The
county appears to be located over the very heart
of the great artesian basin. One of the wells
recently put down in the county throws an eight
inch column of water twelve feet above the
opening. During u test the stream was reduced
to two inches and the tremendous pressure Of
the vel! threw stream of water 1G2 feet into
the air, The pressure of the well ls lCl pounds
to the square inch and when controlled the well
developes 50 horse power. The flow from this
spouter is l.3JO gallons u miuute or 1i!s6l
b rEels every "a honrs.
Think cf it!
The artcsan wells III Bme county vary in
depth from $50 to 200 feet, but the average is
less than l,Ooo feet. They ara .cattered all over
the county and is now easy to estimate with
i'll Il foot almost Mt what depth a flow will be
struck. The wells range in cost from 81 900 to
1000, depending upon size of bore. The cost
is larely determined by the labor ard cost of
fuel. Six inch wells capable of irrigating GAO
acres of lard have been put down for ZOO.
The wonderful fertility OF prairie soil is q
subject of discussion among all agriculturalists
The soil of Brule county is not only the richest
known but very deep. The fact that the prairie
countries havo dry climate is not at all adverse
to soil fertility. 1t rather contributes to its
strength Light and warmth are great fertil-
ize:s Heavy and frequent rains are destructive
to fertility because the chemical properties OF
J the soil that makes it productive are beached
out and washed away and unless renewed b.
fertilizers the soil becomes sterile and unpro
ductive. Irrigation, however, does not weaker
the soil, but strengthens it.
Brule county has raised some magnificent
crops of corn, wheat oats, barley and vegetables
before artcsian wells were thought Of. But tn.
advantage of having q great volume of wate]
ready for instant use in case of immergenc!
even i'll any country whrere the rainfall is con
stant and regular in normal years is too appar
ant to enlarge upon. The climate soil, tn,
grasses, the absence of deep snow and tho wate
supply makes stock farming and general farm
ing in Brulc county possible on greater seal
' and at less cost than almost any spot on thi
, continent. Capitalists and visitors are free il
stating that Brule is destined to be the gardei
county of the Northwest.