The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-12-30

/ Blackfoot, well-named the Grove
City, is situated on the Oregon Short
Line at the junction Of the Salmon
River branch, and is one of the most
prosperous as well as the most beau.
tiful places in the state. Tt is the
boom town of the Snake River valley.
1T is 1876 miles north from Salt Lake. in
the most fertile and best-irrigated sec
5ion of the intermonntain country.
With a population of nearly 5000
pushing Americans, it has the best of
graded schools, five churches and about
sixty business houses; "a local ana
long-distance telephone service, electric
light and power. the Holley system of
vyaterworks and a volunteer fire de-
partment; a fine armOry and opera
house. owned by the local company of
j. n. G.: a large Touring mill (the
dhree-story structure in the foreground
of the picture), which, since Sept 1,
1906, has shipped 2,416,500 pounds of
-four, equivalent to a train of eighty
cars. This mill does an extensive ex-
port trade and furnishes a home mar
l1et for the grain growers. 1t was es-
5ablished in 1892, and has recently been
remodeled. 1t runs the year, round.
and is claimed TO be the finest mill of
its size in the northwest
Blackfoot has the state mental hos
7pital the Southeastern Idaho fair, and
one of the largest sugar factories in the
state From this institution alone the
farmers of the vicinity receive large
revenues. $4,000 being disbursed 10
them in one payment this fall.
The development of the resources of
this vicinity is in its infancy. The
great expanse of agricultural land is
only sparsely settled and the many
great canals for irrigation Which arc
being constructed, together with those
already completed, make this the home
seekers paradise. These canals are
fed by the abundant waters of Snake
river. the seventh largest rivei' in the
world. and the never-failing crops are
oxtravagantly abundant. The diversity
of these crops allows of the BEST of
market at the highest prices.
Fruits Of all kinds known to the in
4ernountain region flourish in this val
lev and the success with which they
have been cultivated for the past ten
wears has been productive of the es'
Establishment of two large nurseries.
One should visit this beautiful little
town and take q trip through the won
derful valley of the Snake in order to
appreciate it's possibilities and the vast
scale on which irrigation works die
being constructed Storage reservoirs
are being made of some of the great
mountain lakes on the headUaters Of
The river which viii make a reserve
supply that will be absolutely mex
1aUstible.
The following is quoted from one of
the newspaper correspondents VINO was
i'm attendance at the irrigation con-
,gress at Boise in September of 1905:
~ source of surprise ia the dele
gates. and one which The man from
The western states could appreciate
ibetter than the one from the rain belt,
was the great amount of water flowing
in the canals i'm the Upper Snake River
valley. Broad. deep and swift, the
canals showed evidence of capacity
that opened the eyes of those who
J1ue.- +he value of water for irrigation,
and they pronounced this the best
watered region in all the states that
irrigate,
Another source of surprise to them
was the great size of the valley When
informed at Boise that they were to
he taken out fer 4 iaunt of two days
and three nights on swift trains TO sec
a few OF the irrigated sections of the
valley, they had little idea of the great
expanse Of country they would cover.
Tc the Californian the San Joaquin
valley is the biggest thing out of doors.
hut a train goes uD one side of the val
lev and down the other in day. The
Oregon Short Line took our guests out
on a trip that lasted from Thursday
night until Sunday morning, and
showed them only few spots, all in
the same valley.
Another writer, commenting on the
impressions of the eastern men in the
same excursion. when they saw some
Of the big irrigation projects, shows
that one must visit to understand them.
4 copv some of his observations.
This is the only way 10 get correct
ideas of these big irrigation works.
when people in the east read about
them they are apt TO think of them in
the light of some little drainage sys-
tenn near their home, but when they
stand on the ground and see them in