The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1905-08-30
THE INLAND EMPIRE.

Residents of the northwest are aw ar'
of the fact that the reclamation of arit
. lands and the adoption of new methods
of farming will add millions to tn
population and wealth of the INLAND
empire, but few of them have any def
mite knowledge as to the immense are;
of land awaiting occupancy aud de
velopment at this time. A recent Wash
intgton dispatch supplies this interest
, ing inform alton:
i A table compiled by Commissioner
Richards OF the general land office
shows that there are l26, 16l, 257 acres
of vacant lands in the northwest
namely, Washington, Oregon, Idaho
and Mo%ntana-and S21, S72,377 acres
of unappropriated and unreserved
lands in the country at large.
There are more public lands in
Montana than in any other state or
territory in the union, with the ex-
ception OF Alaska and Nevada, there
being $685. 35 acres of such unap.
pr%opriated lands. OF this total 49,.
4O9, O23 acres have been surveyed.
Idaho has the next largest area of
unappropriated and unreserved lands.
This state is recorded with 80, 663, 636
acres, Of which 1O.S4s, $40 acres have
been surveyed.
Oregon ranks third among the north.
western states in this respect, with
2O,174,254 acres OF vacant land. OF
this. 14,527,2S9 acres have been sur.
veyed. 1t will be seen from the fore.
going figures that Oregon has the
greatest per cent. of ~unsurveyed lands.
Washington, a close second, Is
credited with s 1862, 932 acres of unap.
propriated lands, of which total H.
Dos, 954 acres, or about a half, have
been subjected to survey.
General Richards figures also show
that the total area of land and water
surface in Montana amounts to 81.
1900 acres. OF this acreage 525, 440
acres are represented as water surface.
Idaho has a land surface of 81, 293, 40
acres and water surface of 1856, $50
acres, or a grand total Of 30, $40, 920
acres. Oregon's acres are divided as
follows: Land 81, 277, 44O acres, water
Sos, $50 acres. Washington's -, 49,, 26O
acres are divided into AZ, 746, $50 acres
OF land and 2,42O, $50 acres of water.
In the matter of water surface Wash.
ington Is surpassed by only five other
states in the union, namely, Wiscon.
sin, Michigan, Minnesota, Florida
and Louisiana.
There Is more land in the northwest
lying idle and serving no particular
purpose than there IL land serving q
useful purpose. The exact figures are
l26, l6l,257 acres unappropriated and
unreserved, and l25, $50, lO3 acres re.
served and appropriated. The unoc.
cupied lands, IT put together, would
be but $1,000 square miles less In area
than the German empire. Allowances
must be made, OF course, for the noun.
tain districts, but land Office officials
assert that there is enough idle land
in those four states to support more
than five times the population now
within their borders. For instance,
Idaho, with q land surface of 80, OOO,-
600 acres, has but ll,563,277 under
cultivation or devoted to other useful
purposes. There is also an area of
2,06l ,577 acres reserved in this state
which is gradually being settled. The
fact that but II, 1000, 600 acres are in
use in this state does not argue that it
takes this much land to support the
small population Of Idaho.
The fact is that millions of cattle,
sheep and horses are pastured and
grazed on as many millions OF acres
of rich, fertile land, every bit of which,
according to officials here, will one
day blossom with fertility and support
millions of people. Irrigation aud
modern farming methods are gradu-
ally revolutionizing land values in
the west. In vie" Of these facts, there
is no apparen. reason why this land,
which is generally regarded as fit for
nothing but pasture and grazing and
s,ockraising, should not some day be
the garden spot of the American con-
tineut. The figures al hand show that
nature was bountiful in supplying the
northwest with water. Four million
acres of water should be able to nour.
ish its thirsty brother millions of
land.