Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-11
GREAT IRRIGATION DAM
ON THE SHOSH0NI RIVER
Work Being Carried On Under Direc.
ton of the Reclamation
Service.

POWELL, Wyo, April N.-(Special.) 1.-The
federal government of the United States,
through the reclamation service, a bureau
Of the Department OF the Interior, is spend
ing about $40. 00O,O 900 in irrigation projects In
various parts of the so-called arid west.
Only those projects have been undertaken
insuring greatest return to the settler,
based on fertility Of soil, abundance and
certainty Of water supply and climatic
conditions. Among these projects, and one
of the most extensive, is the Shoshone
project In northern Wyoming. about sew
enty-five miles east Of the Yellowstone
park. covering approximately 10000 acres
II irrigable land. The government Is spend
ing on this project some Sc ,71o,00o, The
work Is being lone by its own engineers
In a thorough, permanent and substantial
manner. The government desires no profit
from the enterprise, and the land, with
perpetual water rights. will be turned over
to the settlers at the actual cost of the
improvements.
The irrigation works on this project in
clude the Shoshone canyo dam and res
ervo DIR, the outlet tunnel fro mthe dam, the
Corbett diversion dam across the Shoshone
ervolr, the outlet tunnel from the dam. the
Corbett tunnel lined with concrete and tire
and one-fourth miles In length, together
with the necessary canals and ~laterals for
carrying the water TO the highest point on
each farm.
The shoshone dam will be when COM
pieted 32sh feet high. or forty-elght feet
higher than the Flatiron building in New
York, and will be the highest dam IN the
world, II is designed to hold back the
flood waters of the Shoshone river. thus
forming an artificial lake or reservoir COW
ering an area ten miles square to an aver
age depth of seventy feet, and containing
sufficient water TO cover 5000 acres one
foot in depth. The water will be drawn
from the reservoir as It Is needed for irri-
cation Turposes, passed back into the river
channel below the main dam, diverted from
the river by the Corbett diversion dam and,
after passing through the Corbett tunnel,
will pass into the canals and ~laterals from
which the land will be directly irrigated,
The main dam is not yet completed, but
the normal flow OF the ShOshone river pro-
vides sufficient water to iTrigate all lands
which will be opened to settlement prior to
the completion Of the main dam.
The cost OF the land to the settlers Is s45
per acre Of irrigable land. payable in ten
annual iustallments without interest. The
first payment OF $3.50 per acre Ia made at
the time Of filing. In addition the annual
cost OF operation and maintenance OF the
system for the first year is 81 per acre,
making the total fret payment Of g. 50 per
acre. Subsequent lnstallments are payable
after the crop season each year. The farms
vary in size from forty to 16O acres. and
each settler Is permitted to take his choice
OF all farms not filed on.
n-HI = - A. IL
States reclamation service in the center OF
the shoshone project in Wyoming and con-
veyarces are furnished by the government
az tina place free OF charge 10 look over
the land. About l2.OO acres have been
filed on and fT5 families are filling the soil
for the crop season OF 1903. The town OF
Powell has two general stores. two lumber
yards. a brick yard. a bank. a hotel. q
drug store, two blacksmith shops. A very
good class OF settlers are homesteadlng
from the middle western states. mostly