Durango semi-weekly herald. (Durango, Colo.) 1899-1907, 1906-08-30
Section Of La Plata County
that is Rapidly Coming
to the Front

surveyors and some of the travelling
men and they can give you a good
idea. The latter go away and tell
strangers more about 1t than nine
tenths of the people at home know.
We go SO miles north to find the
and 10 miles south to the Colorado
New Mexico line-57 miles north to
south. Then we go "a miles west to
Mancos hill to find the west line and
Az smiles east to the Piedra river to
find the east line-69 miles east and
west-about 1888 square miles of
area-about four-fifths agricultural
and pastoral; the remainder metalli-
ferrous mining. Half of the agricul
tural and pastoral area is underlaid
with coal. Kansas would trade off
one-fourth of her domain to get La
Plata set down in its stead, and swap
in some more to get the timber
Going down to Grommet the other
day there wasn't much else to think
about till Colonel Bob Lange opened
a box of cigars and began to boom
his section. Mr.. Lange is an enthu-
siast, win or lose, in and out of season
Since he is 16 years past the half,
century mark he has concluded that
there Is more in commercialism than
in politics, and he has tried all the
parties in the crucible.
Grommet is a mans name and the
proposition to change the name of the
place to something more poetic has
been under consideration. Grommet
has two stores. one of them having
the postofflce. There is platform
for the reception of goods and PEG.
pies trunks, but the people think
they are getting about ready to ask
the Rio Grande to put in depot with
| roof on. 1t is estimated that 10000
| bushels of grain will be shipped
from there this fall. One man has A.
900 bushels of grain and there are
several others that have large crops
The potato crop is estimated at 5000
bushels. the section has had wateI
| for irrigation only two years and this
is the first year much effort has been
made to produce anything. The hay
crop is good. but it is calculated that
1t all will be needed at home for win.
| ter feeding
The King ditch which furnishes wa.
ter, covers GO quarter sections, or
about 10000 acres. This waterway Is
u feet wide at the head, where it is
supplied from Pine river. The land
is of adobe and loan and the general
plane is broken with hills and knobs
and slopes. What the people have
already done has demonstrated that
1t can be made one of the most pro.
ductive sections of the West-in gar.
dens, grain and fruits. The country
is much the same as the Allison sec.
ton described in The Herald few
days ago. The places are 23 miles
apart, far enough removed from each
other that they will not be competitive
for local trade. The altitude of ALI.
son is probably 400 feet lower than
that at Grommet, a not very material
difference as regards the growth of
fruit
1t is expected that several thousand
acres will be added to the farming
area at Grommet by the construction
of another and higher line ditch to
cover lands which may be had under
the Carey act. This would more than
double the size of the Grommet sec.
ton for production.
The people at Grommet say they
need more people with money to go
ahead in the improvement OF the
lands and fencing and house build.
ing. Many of the land holdings, 1t Is
said, can be bought very reasonably
from people who took them up for
speculative purposes.
A town hall will be built by a mum.
Der of people on the cooperative plan
so that there will be a place for lodge |
meetings, church and public meet.
ings, as well as to have larger place |
to dance in.
More than half of the east part of
La Plata county is yet in the infant
stage Of development, but with the
attention the country is receiving now
1t may be reasonably expected that
within five years that section will
produce nearly half of all La Plata
county's fruit and grain. 1t is a big
country with rich soil and plenty OF
water, and no other section is more
favored for stock growing. The alti.
tude is little higher than that at &c.
dar Hill, N. NJ, where as fine fruit
is produced as can be found anywhere
In America. Only few orchards
have been set out and there will not
be many until new people come in
with money.
The largest grain fields here are
those OF ]. w. Sites. Frank Akers and