American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1908-11-14
lase the equipment for the alley.


The opera house proper or Auditorium,
as 1t has been decided to name this new
play house, will have seating capacity
of 1000. The management is now on
1 the outlook for high class attraction
for opening night, which will be about
December Is.
Some doubt the propriety of investing
the large sums that have been expended
in public buildings and improvements at
American Falls, the last year or two.
but 1t is all home capital and only goes
to show the unbounded confidence the
people have in their city and of its fu-
tTe growth and prosperity.
During the month of September over
300 homestead filings were made on
land in this immediate vicinity. Almost
daily some new family is coming and
locating on their claim.
On November l the American Falls
canal and laterals were completed on
the entire tract of 80, 600 acres.
/ The water for this canal is taken from
the Snake river above Blackfoot and
empties again into the same stream
few miles below town, being about
/ sixty-fiye miles in length.
i The land is all sold. Many settlers
have arrived and ma1e substantial and
i permanent improvements. Nearly one
third of the land is in cultivation. A
large acreage is being prepared for
/ orchards, among which will be several
large commercial orchards. Among the
many who viii raise fruit may be men,
! toned one or two individual cases, as
| showing the extent and magnitude
which this industry will assume in the
next few years.
! c. w. Spalding and brother own 320
acres one and three-fourths miles from
town. The soil is sandy ash loan and
especially adapted to horticulture. Mr..
Spalding has 100 acres on his quarter
section cleared and is preparing it for
fruit. He will plant an orchard of 10, 600
trees next spring which will cover
8 1oV al lSo. APpieS VIII De lilS ldIg
part of it. Mr.. Spalding intends spend
ing most of the winter in the Boise-Pay-
cite valleys, among the commercial
orchardists, to determine positively
which varieties are the most prolific
and thrive best in this latitude. 1t is
his intention to plant from 30 to 100
acres each spring and fall until the en-
tire tract of 800 acres is in orchard.
Mr.. Norton is also setting out com
mercial orchard of forty acres. He says
the soil here very much resembles that
in the celebrated Yakima country, only
/ it is more easily subdued and cultivated.
Several land transfers have recently
been made, all at advancing prices.
Most of the sales are of forty and eighty
acre tracts and are being made by par
ties who originally had 100 acres, but
/ finding this too large body to cultivate
are going into more intense farming.
realizing that places of forty to eighty
acres will produce more under irrigation
than their larger ones did in the east.
/ Another new feature here: The citi-
+ zens are putting up building purposely
+ for landseekers and others who come
here to look over the country, which
will be comfortably furnished. Litera-
ture descriptive of southern Idaho will
be supplied and samples of the products
of farm, orchard and garden exhibited.
Prospective settlers and others inter-
ested are cordially invited to make this
building their headquarters.
The new elevator being built by the
American Falls Milling company is
nearing completion, being one of the
largest and most substantially con-
structed buildings of the kind in the
state.
One of the latest additions in the mer-
camille line is complete house fur
nishing store. Parties from Colorado
Springs are putting in stock of new
and second hand goods which viii be
large and well assorted.
The people are growing very tired of
having to go 120 miles to get to their
county seat town, having to travel
through two states and passing through
two other county seats before arriving
there. A strong effort will be made at
the coming session of the legislature TO
have new county created which they
propose to christen Power county, with
American Falls as the county seat.