The Baraboo news. [volume] (Baraboo, Wis.) 1884-1911, 1906-12-19

hospitable hand wherever he goes, and
at no time is there suspicion that
that hand is reaching for his pocket.
The Coloradoan is too big, too generous
and has too much gold of his own to
do that. Colorado wants more people,
lots of people to come and build homes
and help develop the magnificent re-
sources possessed by the state.
Probably few persons realize that
Colorado is as large as Pennsylvania
and New York combined. But such
is fact. And nature has more richly
endowed it. In that great rocky back
bone extending north and south is
enough mineral to build all the battle
ships and to pay off all the worlds
national debts for centuries to come
and then some. Enough coal to heat
every stove and drive every engine for
a thousand years. Enough water
plunging down the mountain ways to
weave the cloth for every human back,
and then uniting with sunshine and
soil producing fruits of color and flavor
such as the storied gods of Olympus
feasted upon.
The uncompahgre Valley.
The state of Colorado is too big "a
subject for one sitting. The Uncom-
pahgre valley was my objective point
in visit just made and of that it is
my purpose to say something that may
prove of interest and lead to further
investigation. ThruGorg the Royal e
of the Arkansas river, long climb and
a hard climb to Marshall's Pass, two
miles up in the air, aquick drop down
and thru the magnificent canyon of
the Gunnison, and then one is on the
Western slope and in the valley with
a destiny. Twenty years ago the
government purchased this land from
the Utes and the usual rush of settlers
followed the moving out of fhe In
dians. At that time it was supposed
that the Uncompahgre river would
furnish enough water to irrigate all the
land OF the valley, but unfortunately
the Uncompahgre does not drain as
much high mountain territory as do
some other Colorado streams, and it
was found that in July and August of
some seasons the water ran low. Many
settlers who had taken up rich lands
were forced to move out, and only
about ten thousand acres were left in
cultivation. To remedy this unfortu-
nate condition the state vas appealed
to and a complete survey of the valley
was made. 1t was found that by
drilling tunnel five miles long thru
a mountain of solid rock, the Gunnison
rivera stream of abundant WaterfioW
could be diverted from it's channel
and its waters let loose upon 10000
acres of as fine land as the farmer ever
furrowed with his plow. Colorado did
not feel equal to the task of driving
the tunnel, so the U. S. government
was appealed to and when Uncle Sam
turned his attention to irrigation, this
was one of the first projects taken up.
For nearly two years the work has
been going on and the great hole thru
the rock is now more than half COM
pleted. In 1908 the water will gush
forth as from the rock that Aaron
smote, and the promised land will
blossom as the rose. Lined with
cement the tunnel will allow the water
to glide thru at the rate of over ten
feet second and issue from the tunnels
mouth at the rate of 1900 cubic feet
per second. This will be going some,
and will furnish basis for interesting
figures to pupils in mathematics. The
government will also build the canals
and bitches leading to the farms and
orchards and the total cost of several
millions of dollars will be assessed
against the lands and the money will
be paid back to the government in ten
annual payments without interest.
1t is estimated that the assessment will
be somewhere from 25 to $40 per acre,
and with such crops as the valley will
produce the land owners will never
feel the burden. Most of the land is
now held by private parties who are
forced by the government to divide
and sell their holdings to actual settlers.
Several thousand acres are still open
to homestead entry.
Montrose.
The city of Montrose near the head
of the valley and only few miles from
the tunnel, is gem, Two years ago
it was a small, village, but now it num-
bers 800 souls. Over 100 bright, new
business houses, splendidly stocked,
are there, and everything is as active
as knives and forks at church supper.
Everybody in Montrose has an abiding
faith in the destiny of his city, and
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