The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1905-05-31
CoaQ1est :. Great
American Desert

5 American Desert {
0seat 1Psa00tlsa RFs4oeAs.
eurvsyD have ben eouoisosd for
thirtssn great irE1sat1oa Dsojee0 II -
many Different otatss, csa1smolat1ng
tie reclamatioa Of 1.lsl. 100000 acres
Of ds0sgt land, at . cost Of "a. ~ 0oA
q an avssags Of e2728 per acsA TAs
land thue Improved Will b sold 10 he
public ct that peics In ten annual m
stailnsa1s, end thus the entire amount
Of money sxpsndsd win b refunded to
the government. The Prssidsnt ID
greatly sratiAsd at the rapid progress
that y bsing made BY the irrigation
bureau. Contracts have been let and
Thousands Of laborsfs are already en-.
ployed IN Arisona, Colorado, Idaho, Ne
braska. Nevada ana New Mckee.
The law allows enough land to each
settler to support 4 family. No cash
are required; no commute
tionA but the settler must actually
live on It and cultivate It for ave
years and pay 92.o0 IN acre each year
for ten years, whan he viii receive q
title 10 the land and own the water
rights without additional payments.
Pnvats land which receives the ben.
cat Of the water must pay at the same
rats-$2.0o pr acre for ten ysarA
Aftsr ten payments the owner Of The
land win have the water rights fEss
Of cost for all eternity. The land y
good for alfalfa, sugar bsstA potatoes
and al the root crops and fruits Of
the temperate sons. II 10 only twelve
hours from San Francisco BY rail. Afty
miles from the capital Of Nevada. and
10 surrounded By mining settlements In
every dirsctton.
Part Of the land reclaimed will be
the old Forty-Mils Desert or Carson's
Sink, which was . horror Of early en-.
worst spot ON the over
land trail: and was lined the entire
distance with the bones Of men and
animals. Thousands Of poor creatures
died there from thirst and exhaustion.
Farmers who plow there now turn up
In almost every furrow gun barrels
which were driven into the earth 10
mark graves and have since been
buried deep In the drifting sands. A
an illustration Of the pervsrsity Of ma
ture. the engineers who have been lay
Ing out the proposed irrigation system
have found an abundance Of cold, pure
water = few feet below the surface
wherever they have made borinss. All
Of this desert will be redeemed. and
when the present proposition 10 an
ishsd the works will bs extended to
the Humboldt and Walker rivers,
which will bring several hundred thou
sand acres more under irrigation and
make 4 paradise Of what 10 now the
most desoiate spot In Nevada.
Siux One County Was Redeemed.
Thirty. two yeArs ago Hsrs-xas only
one house In the town Of Fresno. In the
central desert Of California, says
writer in the worlds Work. A hole
was dug under 1t, forty fest deep, into
which the inmates lowered themselves
BY q bucket and windlass. to escape
the heat Of the day. Around II. a.
far 40 the eye could zee. stretched the
glazing desert. unbroken BY any cult
waited spot Of green. The whole coun-,
try seemed hopeless wasts--dead and
proftiess.
To-day this spot 10 the center Of q
cheerful community Of 5000 homes. in
. land made fertile by irrigation. Ten
thousand children attend IT. public
schools. The industries there Yield
~, 00Q00 annually. The raisdn crop
Of 1902 put into the farmers bank
accounts $4,000, 900.
All the raisins imported into the
United States in 1902 amounted in
value to only 100000. In 1902 the oil
wells Of Fresno County yielded &c.
600 barrels Of crude petroleum. worth
100000 before refining. Eighty nine
thousand head Of cattle grace on it,
rich alfalfa.
When the few struggling fortune
hunters came to the county late in the
COS they were welcomed BY this Sign
hung over Fresno's one building:
Bring your horses. water. one bit;
water and feed. three bits" Frssno
was . watering station" only. In
1872, however. NJ. J. Church conceived
the idea Of bringing water in bitches
from Kings river, twenty miles away,
to irrisate the land. His proposal was
laughed 1t ~ dreamers scheme. But
persistence won; In 1916 he had water
on land within three miles Of the town
Of Fresno. and the flrst years crop
proved the soil to be fertile. The ara
Of watered ground was rapidly ex-
tended. To-day there ere 3oO, 900 acres
under irrigation.
CASTRO a REMARKABLE MAN.
DeOea Rsveiutisa With - Msa and
Ysuaht uis Way e PrsslAspcy.