The Kalispell bee. [volume] (Kalispell, Mont.) 1900-192?, 1903-05-29
For Roosevelt After He Had Made
Spiel to Old Timers of Helena.
THE IRRIGATION OPPORTUNITIES
OF the Northwest the Presidents
Theme-Presidential Salute Was
Fired at Helena by Battery A, Mon.
tana National Guard-Some Old
Acquaintances.

velts special train arrived here over
the Northern Pacific at $3.50 o'clock
this morning on schedule time. An
| immense crowd was at the station to
greet the president. Around the sta
tion Gordon of soldiers had been
| stationed, while a battalion of the
Twenty fourth United States infantry
from Fort Harrison was drawn UP
opposite the train.
Battery A, National guard, COM
menced the presidential salute on the
arrival of the train.
Among the delegates at the sta
ton We're many old time western
friends of President Roosevelt. One
| of the first persons he inquired about
was John Willis. hunter and trapper,
of Thompson, Mont. with whom he
had camped years ago in this state
After an informal reception at the
station, President Roosevelt and Sec
| rotary Loeb, accompanied by Cover
nor Toole and Mayor Edwards, en-
tered carriages and the parade
moved to the capitol. On the way,
the procession passed several thous-
and school children, massed in front
Of the high school building. The
main audience was at the capitol,
where the president made 30-min-
ute address from the grand stairway
to the main entrance.
I'm the course of his speech, Presi-
dent Roosevelt said: ut is great
pleasure to come through this state
and to see legibly written for the
most unobservant to read assured
promise of future greatness. l some
times think that you yourselves do
not altogether realize how great that
! future will be. Your mines count for
much your ranches count for much;
| the water, and in two ways. In the
| first place thanks to the rapid fall of
| the rivers from the mountains, there
is we'll nigh ineXhaustible source of
power in your streams, which will
certainly be used in the building up
of great manufactures. We are 60
ing to see great manufacturing CEN
tiers here in Montana, taking advan-
| tage of the power of your waters. In
the next place, those waters will be
| used under wise schemes of irriga-
| ton until you make this whole state
first of ALL to distribute the water in
space through the irrigating bitches,
and then to preserve it in time by
storage reservoirs, so as to keep the
floods that run to waste at one sea-
son for use at the season when they
are most needed. And congress, the
national legislature, has not of re-
cent years put upon the statute
books any law as wise, as beneficent,
as the national irrigation act Of year
ago. 1t was the beginning of the
scheme of using Alright the waters
which have been allowed to run to
waste. and, as all of you know, when
Irrigation becomes an accomplished
fact and the waters are used in ac-
cOrdance with the right principles
Of irrigation, we always find that
rainfall is very poor substitute for it.
| we nave pdSStu III lIIlSdIloH lliC
stage of preliminary experiment.
There is no question of what can be
done by it. The question is merely
as to the method, as to the means of
making it most effective. and in my
Judgment the greatest development
within our borders, the greatest de-
velopment not on the sea coast of the
United States during the next half
century will be the development OF
what have been called the arid and
sem-arid lands under the application
of the principles Of irrigation; and
say one thing with emphasis, in en-
ldeavoring to secure the adoption OF
the irrigation system, | was met with
protests from people dwelling in the
humid regions, who believed that the
building up of agriculture in an in
tensified form would be detrimental
to them"
After the address the president
was Escorted to the state house
where took place an informal recep
ton, in which former United States
Senator Carter and members of the
Montana legislature took part. After
a short drive over the city, the presi
dent and party boarded the specia
train, which had been transferred tt
the Great Northern track, and al
l12.3O O'Clock the train left for Butte