The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-07-09

By FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

When Theodore Roosevelt wrote the
..yipning Of the West" he told the tale
Of combats with the Indians which pre-
coded the triumphal march OF the Ameri-
can empire westward from the Alleghe-
MES Under the administration Of Theo-
dore Roosevelt, as President OF the
United States, the most savage OF the
aborigines the Apache. has forsaken the
blanket for overalls 70 aid in the con
quest OF the desert lands Of his fathers.
The Egyptians knew the secret of irri-
cation before the days when Joseph
donned his coat OF many colors. and in
ancient times a great empire was built
in Arizona by artihcially supplying water
70 ouench the age-long thirst Of these
lost lands. Then for centuries and CEN
turtles man neglected his work Of sup
Dlving the needed moisture. IN fact the
desert was left 20 itself so long that 1t
came TO be looked upon as a mistake Of
nature. But now the wide sweep of
oirclIng age has brought the engineer
and his diggers once more 10 the fore
front of empire builders, and the waste
places are being made TO bloom again.
In Arizona the United States govern
rnent is digging hundreds Of miles of irrl-
CATION canals along routes carefully sur
veyed by the most expert OF engineers,
but these routes follow closely the course
OF those ancient canals which supplied
the moisture to turn a brown desert into
a green garden long before the Romans
built aqueducts TO supply their luxurious
baths. In fourteen Western States and
two Territories the United States is be-
hind the work that will eventually cause
the name desert to lose its significance.
The irrigation projects now in process
b. OF construction by the Federal govern
ment will give an irrigable acreage of
nearly as much land as is comprised in
the improved farms Of Louisiana, and viii
cost over S50,000.0O0 Other projects under
consideration will reclaim about three
times as much more land to the uses OF
agriculture.
All this vast work IS being accomplished
without taking one cent from the general
funds Of the government, and without the
imposition Of a dollar in taxes. The Rec
lamation Act, passed in June, 1902, just
five wears ago. provided that all money
derived from the sale Of public lands In
fourteen Western States and two Terri
tories should be set aside and appropri-
ated for the reclamation of arid lands by
irrigation The lands thus reclaimed are
charged with their prOportiOnate cost Of
the irrigation work, and are opened 70
settlement under the homestead laws.
The settler must take water from the
government supply, redeem al least half
Of his entry for agriculture, ana then pay
the cost of the irrigation project IN ten
annual payments, without interest. The
money thus paid back TO the government
Is continued as part of the reclama-
ton funds, and is used 10 further new
irrigation projects and TO maintain the
old. II is a simple plan, and one which
does not cost anybody anything. because
II soon pays for itself from the hitherto
worthless desert land
In these short five years the Federal
Reclamation Service has worked wonders
and performed miracles over fourteen
hundred miles of principal canals have
been dug, a distance equal 10 that from
Boston to New Orleans. Work has been
begun on he largest dam in the world,
the Shoshone dam, in Wyoming, which
viii be SO feet from the bedrock. An
other great dam IS being built at RoOse-
welt. Ariz.. which will form the largest ar
tifcial lake in the world This dam win
be 2S5 feet high and SEQ feet long at the
top
The city Of Roosevelt has been built by
the army which IS winning the arid West.
II Is doomed 70 be destroyed by that same
army. for when the dam is completed
and the lake filed, the water Will be 200
feet deep over the site of the now bus
Ting city. with its electric lights its
waterworks, its schools. its public libra
~. and its hospital. Here. too. is the
great government factory making the ce-
ment being used in the dam and canal
construction and when its work Is done
the scars it makes upon the face Of the
earth viii be hid in the bosom Of a lake
twenty-five miles long and two miles
wide
Here at Roosevelt the Apaches who
once followed Geronimo have buried the
Ratchet and are peacefully at work, max
ing roads, mixing concrete. and earning
their living in the sweat Of their faces.
They have forsaken their warpaint and
no longer resist the onward march of
a new civilization. \ quarter of a mil
lion acres Of land viii be given water
from this lake, and the wonders which
have already been accomplished by pri-
vate irrigation in that land OF reverend
ing sunshine and opalescent vistas Will
be multiplied.
Far to the north of Arizona is the won
derful Yakima Valley, in Washington,
This valley is the rival Of the rich Red
lands and Riverside of Southern Cali
fornia, and TO those who find a perpetual
summer enervating. it is without an
equal A country where apple orchards
yield S1,S00 an acre, and where hops bring
from $500 20 $500 an acre is a good country
for agriculturists. and 1t IS little won.
der that Yakima Valley orchard lands
sometimes sell for 5000 an acre, or even
more In this valley the Federal Recla-
nation Service is spending Sl3,000G00 in
canals, bitches, and storage dams. This
work will give the necessary water to
10000 acres OF land, which. with an as
sured water supply will be worth for
tunes All Of this land will be reserved
for the actual hOmeseeker. No great
companies can gather it in, for It will be
sold only to actual homesteaders in very
small farm units, probably forty or eighty
acres, certainly not more than 100 acres.
The project in this valley will take some
years TO complete, ana IN the meantime
q wOrkingman seeking a home has an
opportunity 10 earn nigh wages in the
construction works.
Nearly four miles OF a siX-mile tunnel
have been completed in Colorado through
which the waters Of the GunnisOn River
viii be diverted to quicken into life 10000
acres Of land now lying dead in the Tn
cOmpahgTe Valley. In this valley there
are irrigated lands which produce sugar
beets that netted the farmers from $50