Omaha daily bee., 1908-06-08
WONDERLAND IN NORTHWEST
New Idaho Country Fssoinates Dwight
Williams, Who Visits II.
SOIL RICH. WATER ABUNDANT
Omaha Man Returns from mat New
strip Recently Thrown Open
Impressed with Its Future
Possibilities.

There is nothing more fascinating TO
most OF us than the opening UP and de-
veloping Of q new country. and especially
so when that country has fertile, Pro-
ductive soil and is rich in other natural
resources" says Dwight Williams. who
has returned from the northwest Those
Of us who have some part in the trans
formation Of such a country from its
original wild state TO a modern DWELLING
place for man are, indeed, most Tor
tunate.
Many reclamation projects are now
being worked out BY the government.
state land commissions and private en-
terprises in various parts Of the eoun-
try. but the greatest OF them all is the
sage brush desert Of southern Idano, the
great Snake river basin, whose fertility
Of soil. Climate and abundance Of water
for irrigation purposes are rarely
eoualed and never exceIled. In addition to
this. is the shoshone Fails. the Niagara
OF the west. with a perpendicular fan OF
21O feet. Twin Fails with a fall Of $50
feet and other lesser falls and rapids
nature has added an unlimited supply
Of power for factories TO finish and re-
fine the products Of the surrounding
country.
People Quick to See.
That the people IN general are AAAIA
10 see and understand the opportunities
offered in this new country was wei
demonstrated at the recent opening Of
the 10000 acres Of government land IN
( der the Carey act. known as the salmon
river project. where the land. including
the water right. costs the settler $3.50 an
acre. I'd this must be added the cost OF
/ clearing the land Of ssgebrush and prepar-
ing for irrigation. which increases the
cost TO the first seeding to an average
Of about $50 an acre. So, you see
recognize the fact that this is not free"
land
Despite this fact. and that it is neces-
sary 70 wait from two TO three years before
water will be ready for irrigating this par
ticulsr tract there were over 1900 applicants
for this land. most OF whom were present
at the drawing at Twin Falls. June |. 1905,
and anxiously awaited the calling Of the
number which meant so much to them, a.
only about one in five could get land. there
being about five times as mani applicants
as there was land. This demonstrates
clearly the widespread interest in this pro-
tect. which was even more clearly shown
as the names and addresses OF the lucky
ones who succeeded in drawing land were
announced by the land commissioners OF
the state of Idaho.
Many states Represented.
"In the first hundred names there wers
people from Oregon. Washington, Califor-
mia. Colorado. Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas,
Wisconsin. Illinois, Pennsylvania. West
Virginia. Tennessee and other states. and
before many hundred names had been read,
IL vas evident that every state in the
union was represented. While a large per
cent OF the new homeseekers were from
the rain-belt Of the middle west. especially
Nebraska and Iowa, yet the greater per
cent were from the irrigated settlements Of
the west, where the price Of land to the
average settler OF moderate means looks
like a rainbow in the sky" ranging from
500 to 5000 per acre.
The magnitude Of the various projects