The Record-courier. [volume] (Gardnerville, Nev.) 1904-current, 1904-09-16

the Htff4fifs 1t his taiafNFfi anu tNlRAAfl
the laws permitting each adult male cit
lien Of the United States to establish
elis own heme and rnoftree. nj merely
nominal cost
When good homesteads began 10 grow
scarce. and corporations by double
dealing. had largely nsurped the birth
right of the individual the party If
freedom and justice began to look into
the question Of irrigation. 1t proposed
TO flank the subtle movements Of land
monopolists. aud to practically create
new heaven aud new earth" for the
builder of homes. upon which rests the
corner stone of the republic.
Uncle Sam owned the whole arid re-
.gion. and he owned the water supply.
too. He decided to bring the water to
the land. and by this union to make pos
sible a measureless bounty for the pres
ent. and future genera tons. He profits
by experience. So he decided to fix
up this new land business in such a way
that monopolists could never again stul-
fifty good citizenship by robbing it of
its own.
Origin of National Act.
In keeping with the wishes of a Re
publican President. Republican Con-
igress passed law. June Il. 1902, au-
thorizing the Government TO enter upon
this work of reclaiming arid America.
This law restricts the amount of such
land TO be owned by any one individual
90 100 acres, and requires a continuous
residence Of five years on the same. to
acquire title. Such occupants viii re-
fund to the Government. in a number of
equal annual installments. the actual
cost of bringing water to the land. Such
entries cannot be committed.
Under the act approved June II, 1902,
which is properly the beginning of the
present Government Reclamation Sery-
ice. an endless chain" Of funds was
provided by appropriating the receipts
from the sale aud disposal of the public
lands in the thirteen States and three
Territories Of the arid region. These
States are California Colorado. Idaho,
Kansas. Montana. Nebraska. Nevada.
North Dakota. Oregon. South Dakota,
Utah. Washington and Wyoming Ter
ritories: Arizona. New Mexico and
Oklahoma. This fund at present hovers
somewhere near the SO 900. 600 mark
The arid regions of the United States, |
as generally designated, include ahert
lhU-AAAAr u IL ElAAit diCAs tAAfiiuaAE
from about Z middle of the continent
westerly nearly 10 the Pacific Coast and
reaching from Mexico to Canada. There
are no sharply marked lines or divisions
between tie arid and the humid areas.
but there IS. especially near the center
OF the United States. a broad inter
mediate belt. neither distinctly arid nor
distinctly humid. which is called the
sub-huInid OF seni-arid region. This belt
extends oyer North Dakota, South Da-
kota. western Nebraska. and western
Kansas into Oklahoma aud the Pan
Sandle Of Texas.
What Is Being Done.
Since tie passage Of the Reclamation
Act the Government has had large
corps If engineers and assistants ex-
aminng the arid region and studying
Its streams and water supply carefully
Important Investigations have been made
ri the following places, aud at some
of them mammoth irrigation projects
are now under way: Milk River project
in Montana including the investigate ton
of the proposed dam sites at St Mary
Lakes. In Wyoming examinations have
been made Of the possibilities Of storing
waters in the Bighorn Mountains for
use along their eastern slopes. and at
the proposed dam site for the Sweet
water reservoir on the river OF that
name. tributary OF the North Platte.
In Colorado in the vicinity 81 Sterl-
ing. work has been done in connection
with the plan to utilize the Pawnee
Pass reservoir site for irrigating lands
on the north bank of South Platte Riv-
er. Surveys have also been made for
diyerting the waters Of the Gunnison
River through n tunnel into the I'm
compakEre valley for irrga ton. The
Grand River project. involving the use
of the waters Of the Grand River ON
the plains wesf Of Grand junction in
Colorado and Utah, has also been the
subject of surveys and examinations In
Nevada the Truckee-Carson basin has
been examined with a view to utilizing
the waters Of these rivers and exam
ining the storage possibilities Of Lake
Tahoe and other lakes in the Sierra Ne
Tada. Investigations have also been
made in the valley of the Walker Riv-
er. Nevada. In Arizona and Colorado
an examination of the Colorado River
from the Needles to Yuma has been in
stigated for the study of plans for the
reclamation Of the low lands along both
sides of the river. The practicability
OF storing the Good waters of the Salt
River has also been investigated. There
are many other instances.
MeasureIess Possibilities.
The records show that at least one
third Of the area Of the United States,
exclusive of Alaska aud our outlying
possessions, consists Of vacant public
land. enc Of the great economic ques-
tons now before the people Of this coun-
try, is the utilization Of this vast area,
much Of which has a rich soil, and un-
der good management would be capable
of sustaining large population. The
possibilities are stupendous. Govern
menf engineers estimate that the total
possible water supply Of the arid re-
gioR is sufficient. If properly conserved,
10 irrigate 100.00O.c00 ceres; which. re-
ports show, could be made available.
3ais unwatered empire. brought from