The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1909-01-14
AN IRRIGA1ING COUNTRY
A Graphic Description of the Crca,
Plan for Irrigating the Plains
of Idaho,

Plan for Irrigating the PIa;:,s
of Idaho.
Albert MentZ, who will be re,aem-
bered as a former student of Dakota
Wesleyan, spent several months in
Idaho during the summer of sos,
and on his return home to Gath
wrote an interesting description or
the %irrigating plan in that country,
which was published as follows in
the Aberdeen News:
"A good share of the ~irsigating
water in southern Idaho comes from
the Snake river. 1t gives a laam AN
attack of imagination to see tie irri-
eating systems and their sources.
Picture to yourself a seam crac ID
across a state, shallow in places.
again an earth splitting gorge
through whose depths rushes a
mighty river-that is the Snake. You
look down from the towering preci-
pieces of lava and wonder how the
water a thousand feet below can be
brought up into the land. 1t is mere
y a question of letting it run down.
hill. The country slopes rapidly to
the west, SO far up the rise to the
east, a dan is located where the
river is but little below the general
level. This gives an opportunity to
get the water into IL great canal and
out onto the bench When complete
ed, it will be truly a great work.
The diversion dams at Miner are
cement skyscrapers laid fiat; the
canal is Il young river 120 feet wide,
nearly q hundred miles long, and
mon by means of al inverted sgpaon
twenty-five feet in diameter.
But that is not all: the water sup
ply nus be certain. So, HUNDREDS OF
miles up the river in the mountains
great gorges and cannons are plug
ged with cement. Thus the melting
snow is stopped in it's useless .ush
during the spring and impounded in
great reserve bodies for employment
later in the season. Get your map and
look up jackson lake, south of the
Yellowstone Park; that will be
walled in and raised thirty feet.
Then trace the Snake river down to
Sh%onshone Falls. Some of the country
is we'll named Snake River Desert
there are rolling lava beds and an
occasional butte. Through these
desolate stretches of water is to be
fed out as needed The principle is
a simple one. Tho precipitation on the
intermountain plains is very light;
the moisture is nearly all impaled by
the mountains. IT left to itself, it
| runs off wild; but the hand of man
is staying its tumultuous course and
leading it into the orderly ditch and
: lateral at the time when vegetation
begins to dry. We like to see rain
falling on the thirsty ground; it is
rather startling to think of catching
it on the roof of a continent, stor.
ing it in great canons and lakes made
over into cisterns, using rivers fol
. bitches and canals for troughs an6
: leading it hundreds of miles to where
mere man uses it at his pleasure.
t THE land looks as though it need:
Y water. The man without imagination
r may we'll term it cursed of God
The wild sweep of landscape gets OF
| his nerves His soul sickens of the in
terminable sage He damns the dus
a mile deep and sometimes in thu
wind, a mile high. The barrennes:
appalls him. But to the man of Wis
ion-how different! The naked plains
e are magnificent in their boundless
: ness; they give him a chance t,
breathe and expand. The soil seem;
golden with potential wealth. Tn,
: air thrills with mountain inspiration
n and in its clear depths he behold
e the future. Water, aided by brain
e Sage brush and cactus give way t
e alfalfa. Rabbits and rattlesnakes ar
supplanted by horses and hogs. TIL
schoolhouse springs up everywhere
Frontier blossoms into pro
d ductive beauty. An empire rises GU
s. of the sand, and the desert become
e a place of homes. This is the west
ern epic of toll and achievement.
IS while out there l visited Shon
n shone Falls. 1 started early in tn
3 morning and took a walk for it eros
lots from town, about five miles. TIL
le immediate country is level agricu,
e. tural land, giving little indication c
,e its nearness to anything s%tupendou!
al The morning was clear and quiet, a
If most drowsy, and l soon heard tn
lg first faint echo of the falls. AS
swung up over a small hill, l caugt
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