Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1904-09-12

oldttime river kings, Captain Grant
Marsh, famous as :, a. pilot and river.
explorer, under Custer: Nrsythe,
Sheridan, Miles. and an important fac
tor in many Indian expeditions There
was little in common in my uneventful
trip and such a one as when Captain,
Marsh brought back to Bismarck the
first news of the dreadful Custer Mas
sacre, which made rs widows OF army
officers stationed at Fort Lincoln, just
across the river, and brought likewise
a score of wounded soldiers from
Reno's detached troops. The Sioux
have had their passing and ranchers
and farmers may dwell and till with
out fear Of swift annihiQation from
marauddng braves. But from the
pilot house OF the little steamer could
discern, in the not far future, a de.
velopment along the Missouri, which
would work a vet greater change than
that of the past decade For hundreds
OF miles the river is encompassed by
steep bluffs from 200 to $50 feet high
and from two to three miles apart. Be-
tween these, the river winds, stream
Of from q quarter to a half mile wide
gradually changing it's course from
side to side. but forming great areas
Of bench" lands, twenty, thirty, and
fifty feet high-hundreds Of thousands
of acres Of surprisingly fertile soil,
needing only irrigation. And the
watering Of this land turns out to be
among the easiest Of projects. =
=5 Rich Coal Beds for Pumping.
~ Every, bluff Of the Missouri showed
q coal vein of from inches to II
feet in thickness: in fact enormous
areas OF North Dakota are undertake
with splendid hgnite coal, worth at
the mine only q dollar ton. There
you have 1t. The water Of the Mis-
spalri a limitlesss, ceaseaess supply
Just above 1t land, made by centuries
of river sediment and imme diately at
hand, one of the cheapest known fuels
to pump the water onto the land. It
did not take an engineer to see the
feasibility and cheapness OF this under
tagging. IT. a ,s@S;sY 4. ]. s:} ~ Il s:
But why, I asked myself, had it not
been done? Why had not farmers
themselves put in windmills and small
pumps? Was there, after all, some
insurmountable obstacle? No. Talks
with a few Of them showed them as
ignorant of irrigation and Its simplici-
:ty as are the farmers Of Vermont. In
fact they were rainfall, farmers and
they spoke Of Irrigation as a mysteri-
GUS and complicated process.
Uncle Sam 70 Pump the Missouri.
MY return to Bismarck justified my
conclusions. / found two government
engineers even then Vestigating the
problem, and far beyond supplying
the great areas Of lower benches. they
propose to elevate the water q hundred
and possibly two hundred feet out
onto the great mesas. left them
preparing for . trip down the Missouri
from the Dako Montana Hne. In 9
small skin, on d careful reconnais.
sance Of the Old Muddy, its tributaries
and It's lands II they find conditions
as favorable IS they would seen. =
parity OF surveyors will be put upon
the project at once TO make surveys
and detailed plans, to be followed By
the Installation of giant pumps
water engines eaeh Of which will
create g small river.
This work 81 the government 4
fraught with unbonnded possibilities
Tor North Dakota. A great empire
lies latent Id the midst of the state
tho worth of which her own people
IRE MT beginning 70 comprehend.
The Fertility 81 The ages . storsld y
me tnk.black soil ana the 800 ~
hair ! conf nli.ent hows 81, "a unused
agent g ~ of grell
thines Sor HE lald q Lsngh hing Wastes
my be close 81 hand BIZ