The Kalispell bee. [volume] (Kalispell, Mont.) 1900-192?, 1903-12-29
PLANS FOR
|RR|CAT|NC
The Vast Area in Montana Now Prac.
ticaIIy Untitled.
SITUATION is COMPLICATED
Three Plans Presented, Each Feast
Bile, But With Drawbacks-The
Last, or Plan Number Three, Is
More Attractive Upon lnvestiqa-
ton.

\ letter from Washington states
that, at recent meeting of the SEN
ate and house committees on irriga-
ton, before which appeared Chief
Engineer Newell of the reclamation
service. Senator Gibson secured from
Mr.. Newell a statement concerning
the work thus far done by his depart
ment in Montana
Mr.. Newell said. I'VE have CON
Gntrated our energies very largely
in Montana on what is called the ST
Marys project for several reasons.
First, perhaps, because the engineer
ing problems presented during our
preliminary investigation appeared to
be comparatively easy of solution:
second a very large body of land be-
longing to the government was in
volved; third, the land is in a region
where extensive cultivation would
mean a large and prosperous commu-
nifty. the soil being of extreme fer
Utility. adapted to a variety of crops
The elevation is low and the posi-
bilities Of water conservation are
great.
AS most Montanans are aware
this project presents three alterna-
tive plans; first, storage PROPOSE
ton on St. Marys lakes with a short
diversion canal from ST. Mary's river
to carry the stored water across the
mesa and drop them into the North
or South fork of Milk river, using
the natural channel of this stream as
a canal through Canada to the lower
Milk River valley in Montana; sec
ond, utilize the water on lands as far
west as possible. thus irrigating the
eastern section of the Blackfeet In
dian reservation and lands immedi-
ately adjacent on the east: third,
carry the water from the head of St.
IMary's river across both the North
and South forks of Milk river to Cut
bank creek, 100 miles or more, and
take it out of the Marias by canal
to Big Sandy creek. a tributary of
Milk river.
"The first of these plans is proba-
bly, the cheapest and perhaps the
most feasible. However. it brings to
light international questions, difficult
to solve and which may continue to
perplex future settlers under this
canal for years to come.
Efforts are being made quietly to
reach a satisfactory agreement with
the Canadian authorities, but thus
far have not met Wish much encoalr-
agement The situation is further
complicated by the recent settlement
of Mormon colony i'm the Milk
River valley in Canada. which has be-
gun the construction of large canal.
This would seem to presage constant
difficulties in the matter of water di-
versions between in'rigatOrs in both
countries.
plan No. 8 grows more and more
attractive as investigation proceeds.
The future possibilities Of this plan
seem almost unlimited and extend
far beyond the preliminary project
of a single reservoir and one large
canal system. If the first work is
successfully constructed. the next
generation will see series of canals
and reservoirs extending for hun
dreds of miles across the northern
| part of the state and covering hun
dreds of thousands of acres. The
flood waters of all the streams in this
section ultimately will be stored II
| natural reservoirs. turned upon the
thirsty land to again return by seep
age to the streams and further down
again be diverted.
Even the prosaic matter of fac
engineers are carried away with en-
thusiasm as the plans are developed
1t is within the realm of possibilities
that this region will one day contain
a population numbering millions.
"Montana's future agricultural de
velopment is not depended by an.
means on this one scheme. The stat
affords numerous opportunities 70
cooperative enterprise in the Mussel
she'll country and in other parts
On the Yellowstone. the engineers re
port favorable sites for canals anu
also on Sun river
In the extreme southern part O
! Montana where the turbulent She
! shone pours its floods from Wyon
ing into the Big Horn, plans are a
ready being made for big cana
which will cover a vast tract in w!
oming and may be extended for man
5 miles through the Crow reservation