, 1902-11-06


'
III an article prepared for the Ma.
tional Home Maker. of WASHINGTON
ID. C.. AIR. David C.. Patterson of
Omaha. says:
The transcontincntal traveller of the
Union Pacific railroad in crossing he
state of Wyoming from CHEYENNE to
Aspen tunnel is III able to see a green
field or a farm house. during a ride
of four hundred miles, and naturally
sets the country down-in his mind
as absolutely worthless, barron
waste. He does not realize that he
is riding from daylight until sunset
at a speed OF forty miles per hour and
al this time is riding over bcds Of
coal that are from 4 to 10 feet in
thickness and 100 miles broad. Coal
of such excellent quality that it usual
ly sells in Omaha for about as much
per ton as anthracite coal that is ship
ped twice as far. Nearly all of this coal
land belongs to thc government. with
the exception of alternate sections for
Nv tllN mics on tafn size OF me Fall-
way and can be secured by any one
wanting tn purchase coal land. In
iron ore Wyoming has mountains OF
il. in addition. gold. silver and COP
per are found in every county OF the
state. not to mention the oil and other
minerals that are very abundant. |
am strongly impressed with the fact
tina Wyoming is a greater state from
a mineral standpoint than Pennsyl.
vania. and that her mineral develop
ment will mark an era in our Ma
tional history during the next dec
ade.
This state occupies a uniuue situa.
ton in regard to governmental irri-
CATION. The head waters of the Snake
river that flows into the Columbia.
the Yellowstone river that flows north
into the Missouri, the North Platte
that flows east through Nebraska and
the Green river flowing south to the
Gulf of California, all have their
source in the mountains of Wyoming,
where most of the money must be
spent in building reservoirs in which
to store wafer. not only for wyoming.
but for her %neishboring states.
The largest natural reservoir site
NAV be seen at a distance from the
/ CITY of Laramie. II has an area of
over IL. 600 acres. with a storage ca
pacitv of nearly a million acre feet;
enough water to cause a change in the
appearance of the plains of Laramie.
and with water to snare.
Being in quest of trout | was di.
rected to Fort Bridper on the Black
Fork river in southwestern Wyom.
ing, Of the valley nestled at the base
of the snOW-capped Unita mountains.
Prof. ElWood Mead SAWS in his report
as state engineer OF wyoming: THE
o~pportupities for making homes in
Black Fork valley ought to have
peopled if long ago. This valley bord.
ers n transcOntineutal railway. can be
easily and cheaplv wat.red, yet it has
been ignored. while in the same coun-
ty over 1000 people have crossed n
lofty mountain range to establish fifty
miles from anv railway station the
largest agricultural settlement in the
state. These lands are fertile, easily
and cheaply irrigated. The crops now
grown there will compare favorably
in Weld and quality with the results
obtained on the irrigated land of Utah
on the west or Colorado on the south.
The elevation is something about g.
COO feet on sea level, which prevents
the successful growth of corn, but all
mail crain-wheat, oats, rye and bar.
ley-root crops and hay reach a per
lection here no surpassed elsewhere.
The greatest advantage of this To-
cality. however, is its market. The
coal miners in other towns which Dor.
der the Union Pacific railroad for four
hundred miles along the southern
boundary of Wyoming, depend almost
wholly on other states for their food
sunnlies. Over a million dollars worth
of farm products are imported each
wear to supplv the demands in the
towns of Evanston, Green River,
Rock SPRINGS. Rawlings and Hanna,
The average price of farm products
in these towns for the mast three
wears has been twice or three times
that secured nv the farmers of Ne
braska and Iowa. With the greater
vields dine to irrigation. with double
or trehle the returns due IN highor
nrices the greater proits of apricuI-
Tested as the increased return is not