, 1901-12-24

plan of the Wyoming Development
company, | have never lost contidenc,
in the feasibility of the scheme. Al
most from the first day of my arriva
in Wyoming | have given muci
thought and consideration to the sub
ject OF irrigation. Perhaps on the sub
ject | am an optimist. | have thai
kind of faith in the possibilities ol
Wyoming that has developed into the
firm belief in the future agricul
tural greatness of the state. AgriCul
ture is h foundation of substantial.
and continued prosperity of any com
munity. If agricultural pursuits are
properly followed they each returning
season add to h wealth and perma
nency of a community. If the soil is
~skilltully cultivated it is not exhaust
ed, but enriched, and its increasing
fertility may often be determined by
the increasing intensity with which
it is farmed.
Nature intended that man should use
his brains as well as his hands, and
while nature is most prolific in the ad
vantages and good things that she
spreads out before us. the most salts,
factory results are attained where man
removes mountains of obstacles and
avails himself of natures advantages
through mental eXertion and manual
labor. That which is secured without
it is scarcely worth having and is rare.
ly appreciated by him who has it.
Farming by artificial irrigation is
the best of all farming. While it re-
quires the application of water. mark
ed attention and skill during the grow
ing season. it reduces farming as near.
ly as possible to a certainty. brings
great harvests to the "husbandman and
consequently the best rewards to him
who plants and reaps.
A New Question.
Irrigation is as old as time itself,
but is a new question in the United
States. But a small number of the
people have ever seen an irrigation
plant or any practical experiment with
irrigation in the cultivation of the soil.
Until the pioneers of Utah began to
settle the Salt Lake basin no irriga-
ton had been undertaken in any part
of the country under the jurisdiction
of the United States. Utah was hen
so remote thai it was a score of years
before it became an object lesson to
the rest of the country.
The country now so intensely inter
eSted in the subject of irrigation was
fifty years ago so little known that it
was little thought of as a place of habi-
tatiOn for civilized man. The writer's
and statesmen of fifty years & did
not even to a small degree, compre-
bend the future of what is now known
as the arid region. The writer in his
beautiful and fascinating descriptions
of the plains and mountains, and of
their savage life, did not anticipate
that the natural conditions would ever
permit their settlement by civilized
man, much less that they would ever
become dotted with beautiful homes,
farms and ranches and the seat of great
commercial centers. AS great as Mr..
| Webster was. in the discussion of the
California question, he showed that he
did not anticipate any great develop
ment or settlement of the country ac-
quired from Mexico. 1t was not
strange, for not one then realized what
was possible. And the opinions eX-
pressed fifty years 6 were but lit
tie more advanced that those eX-
pressed by an intelligent member of
the United States house of representa-
tives on the floor of that body after
the war of 1912, when he proposed that
a great territory, which To- includes
the state of Iowa, should be made a
permanent Indian reservation, for the
reason that civilization and settlement
could not possibly ever penetrate so
far into the interior of the continent.
The Transformation.
A great change has come. These
| ,,,ncti,rs +, ffnrtirp tho ariJ rnuinrc yp
today live ones. They are being dis
cussed intelligently by the people of
the United States. Two of the cabinet
officers in their current reports have
made these questions important sub
jects, and the young, able, progressive
and independent president of the Uni
ted States, in his first and universally
commended message to congress gave
the same questions significant consid-
Grafton. Yes, the conditions have
changed. The experience gained, the
object lessons given in the arid regions
and the ever increasing and crowding
population have worked a complete
transformation of public sentiment.
A few years ago the stage coach and
slow OK and mule teams were sufficient
to transport passengers and freight
from the Missouri river to the scatter
ing small settlements and isolated mill
tary cantonments. The man and his
family in front of a blazing fire, camped
inside of the corral made by drawn up
wagons, as a matter of safety against
the savage foe that lurked in the vi
cinity. The old emigrant trains have
succumbed to great and well construct
| ed trans-continental railroads, crossed
with north and south lines, until about
the only road left for the prairie
schooner is on the right of way of
the railroad company The traveller in
the palace car looks in vain for the
old landmarks which appeared so
plain and distinct when he made the
| trip from river to ocean with a bull or
mule train
The railway has brought to the doors
of the interior of the continent the
luxuries of the east and west and 1T
ponderous wheels bear the products
of the fields and the cattle, sheep,
horses and wool, with all the speed of
steam to the great market centers.
The products of the mines are in a few
hours transported to smelter and mint.
These railroad tracks traverse the val
leys and penetrate and climb the noun
tains.
Possibilities.
The great country known as the arid
region. in it's development, so extended
are its confines and possessing su
variety of climate, has proven that
within its borders the flowers and
fruits of the tropics and all the agri-
cultural products common in the ex-
IRENE of the temperate zones, may be