The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-06-08
The Great Divide" Is
Confined to Eiction's
Realm.

= 3
VIII very soon become generally ae-
knowledged. declares the New York
Herald This person maintains that
there are no such mountains as we have
known as the Rockies, that those
rugged peaks extending in an unbroken
chain from Mexico to Puget sound are
really nothing more than a seogra PHI
zeal myth
Besides upsetting the general belief
IN this famous long range of high
mountains we are further informed that
1t is not possible to irTigate the vast ex-
tent Of country west of the Mississippi.
and hence for farming purposes the
plateaus and valleys of the Rockies are
not advantageous homes for the immi-
grants who are filing UP the land.
Cope WhitehCuse Of New York City,
whose explorations in the Libyan des-
ert, to the west of middle Egypt, have
completely changed its appearance on
our maps, now denOuBces as a per
nicious error the popular representa-
tons Of the vast plateau between the
Watershed OF the Mississippi and the
Pacific ocean. In Egypt he showed the
feasibility of converting millions of un-
productive acres into fertile land, and
proved that several hundred square
miles. which had been depicted as far
above the level of the Nile were in fact
far below the level Of the Mediter-
solely in the interest of scientific truth
that he has directed attention to this
subject, by preparing a map for GER
tain members Of congress to aid espe-
ciaLy the committee on irrigation of
arid lands.
A study Of the United States maps.
especially those prepared in foreign
countries, VIII show at a glance that
The idea OF this western mountain
range has from year to year undergone
remarkable changes.
At first the Rockies were represented
by q series of high mountain chains
extending in unbrolen lines from north
to south, and from the Pacific coast
to the valley Of the Mississippi. APP
parentiy these mountains were a con-
tinuatiOn of the Andes in South Amer
lea. Later the smaller chains were pic
tured separated by valleys and plateaus
but still forming a line from southern
California to Washington. One of the
newest and most truthful maps of the
west, according to Mr.. Whitehouse, or
naments the front window of a railroad
Office in Fifth avenue. In it the Rocky
mountains are shown in a fairly correct
extension and relation. as small and
separated ranges with high peaks here
and there.
Among the documents presented to
the committee on arid lands is a map
prepared by Mr.. Whitehouse, which is
intended to show the objections to any
fostered immigration in the plateau
west Of the 101st degree of longitude.
/ The map. which is colored by Mr..
WhitehOuse, is the one published by the
United States geological survey. 1902.
and is most creditabIe to the workers
under Major Powell and Mr.. Waleott.
Mr. Whitehouse has endeavored to
explain by his map why settlers should
h.
on unfruitful soil. while at the same
time he points out the neglected areas
of the Appalachian range. which are
both profitable and easy Of access
1T is obvious says Mr. WhitehOuse,
speaking Of this subject which inter
estS him so thoroughly, that with all
the work done by the bureau of immi-
grafton in New York and the depart
ment of agriculture and bureau of sta
tistics in Washington, there is no
really adequate machinery for the wise
utilization of the stranger landing in
our ports. He may be passed through
Ellis island and saved from financial
ruin for the first few days after his
landing, but there ought to be an eX-
animation Of his habitat, as it might
be called, If he were frankly looked at
as the parent of a future generation.
''The immigrants possess a certain
power Of resistance to adverse infiu-
ence,'' continued Mr. Whitehouse.
! which does not apply to the second
and third generations. 1t would be my
idea TO furnish each one of these i'm
migrants with certificate and a map,
as an insurance company would do If
it had a policy on his or her life. There
should BE, according to my scheme, a
map showing the area in which the
government invited the immigrant to
live. It is even within the limits of
he 1efr oh
vaccination to require him to continue
to live in the district assigned to him
until at least he was capable OF pass
ing another examination and was de-
clared immune. The result of giving a
Norwegian, a Syrian and an Italian a
/ map of the favorable, or necessary,
climatic conditions would Immediately
disabuse the minds of the men who are
/ charged with its preparation of that
wonderful Pigment of the diSordered
imagination of the map-makers, that
there was, roughly speaking, one-third
Of the United States which was as
I available for settlers as the hills of
] Pennsylvania or the plains Of Iowa and
! Kansas.
The most striking feature of this
| scheme is. however, a negative one,
/ and it is best expressed by the refer
ence to the passing of the Rockies.
4 An inspection of the map shows that a
/ line drawn at an elevation OF S,UUU Ieet
( is due north and south. When it is
/ considered that the plains of Illinois
! are under 500 feet, and that European
/ countries, except the semi-arid parts OF
/ Spain, are to a very large extent below
( this line. ii is obvious that Professor
/ Bumpus of the American Museum of
l Natural History, or any other leading
/ authority in natural history would
1 never advise the government to en-
/ courage these Europeans to cross the
| danger line of the western plateau.
| OR course this does not apply to Al
I pine residents of the sunny and fertile
I valleys of Colorado or New Mexico and
/ Oklahoma. But there IS, as the con-
I tours and sections show, an elevation OF
! over 1000 feet throughout the whole
I plateau to the south of the Yellowstone
/ lake and It's neighbor, the headwaters
{ of the Columbia river.
The Rocky mountains were always
! depicted as a continuation Of the An
, des, which were supposed to separate
/ into two ranges, traversing the CONT
nent from south TO north. Nothing
could, / say, be further from the truth
! Pixies peak and its neighbors in Colo
RADIO form a distinct group and emerge
/ above the level of 5000 feet over .
! comparatively small area.
The Great Divide which has beer
/ celebrated in geography and fiction
/ must confine itself to the latter realm
/ The Columbia river and the Yellow
/ stone constitute a true divide and Tho
/ water from the same local shower may
| descend the Missouri on its way t.
| New Orleans. while the western rain