Fergus County Democrat. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1904-1919, 1905-08-08
Surveyor A. T. Goodspeed Tells of
Three Projects in Fergus Coun-
ty Which Are Feasible.
SMALL COST OF RECLAMATION
Three Projects Costing $l85, 900
Would Reclaim 95, 900 Acres of
Fine Agricultural Lands.

There are few men better acquaint-
ed with Fergus county from topo-
graphical standpoint than A. T. Good
Speed, the surveyor. For the last two
Years Mr.. Goodspeed has been engag-
ed in gathering data for fine map of
Fergus county which will be printed
within the next thirty days. Then
too, his work Of surveying has called
him to all portions of the county and
he has made himself thoroughly fa-
mliar with the character of the land
from one side of the county to the 9TH
Mr.. Goodspeed was asked by the
Democrat this week to give his views
as to the feasibility of irrigation in
Fergus county.
There are few counties in the state
which offer as many practical oppor-
tunities for extensive irrigation as
Fergus county" "said Mr. Goodspeed.
I'm the course Of my travels over the
county, I have given particular atten-
ton to this matter and can truthfully
say that many thousands of acres can
be reclaimed from a practically des-
ert character to great fertility by the
expenditure of comparatively small
amounts of money.
"Over in the brakes of the Judith
river, about five miles north of Utica,
there is one of the finest sites for an
irrigation reservoir that I have ever
seen. Nature has already performed
the greater part of the labor of con.
structing the reservoir and the ex-
penditure of $4,000 is all that is me-
cessary to conserve the flood water Of
Sage creek and the Judith river until
it is needed in the summer. At the
present time these streams are full to
overflowing in the early spring when
the water is not needed, but it is all
gone, wasted, by the time the hot days
of summer arrive.
The project would irrigate easily
5000 acres of land which is now good
only for grazing purposes and worth
not to exceed $3.50 per acre. The soil
is gravelly loan and, with sufficient
water would raise tremendous crops of
grain and grass. Under such cOndi-
tions, this land would be worth not
less than $50 per acre or an increase Of
s137.50O in the value of the 5000 acres
through the expenditure of $4,000.
another project which appears to
me to be entirely feasible is furnished
by the FlatwillowPike creek country
in the southern part Of the county. By
diverting the waters of Flatwillow in
to Pike creek. about 18 miles from
Flatwillow crossing, reservoirs could
be constructed which would reclaim
not less than 10000 acres of practically
productive land. Between these
two creeks, there is low divide which
could be easily crossed. It would cost
about $4,000 to put this project thro-
ugh but it would enhance the value
of forty thousand acres of land from
$3.50 to $50 per acre. This soil is gum
DO and with little moisture at the
right time would produce magnificent
crops of alfalfa, grain and all sorts
of vegetables.
The Wild Horse lake project for re-
claiming big section of the country
about 20 miles east of the Judith
mountains is probably the best known
of the different irrigation schemes in
this county. This big body of water,
containing some $4,000 acre feet Of
moisture is a natural reservoir and
large sections of country near there
has been withdrawn from desert entry
by the government under the irriga-
ton act of 1902. The waters Of the
Fords, Bear and Box Elder creeks
supply this lake with water which, if
spread over the surrounding land
would mean an increase of hundreds
F, of thousands of dollars to the value.
The chief item of cost in securing the
benefits Of this water would be the
building of influent canals and the
crossing over of BOX Elder creek.
The project could be put through with
s125,0OO, but make fine agricultural
land of $4,000 acres of bench land
which is now not worth over $1.25 per
acre for grazing purposes.
There are numerous other projects
in this county but these are the more
feasible ones and it is but matter of
time when some enterprising men of
if the government fails to do so with
in the next few years."