The Falls City tribune., 1909-05-07
SCOTS Bluff County Sees Mans
Triumph Over Nature by Irrigation

ways the most important material
problem of their immediate future.
The real home builder who undertook
To subdue Scott's Blum county q
agriculture encountered many dili-
eu'tics. For many years this vast re-
zion has beenutilized Is a public com
mon. Countless cattle and sheep had
had free access to il aud overgrazcd
IT,. These early cattle men were the
pioneers OF the plains country. They
farmed but little. and from the nature
Of their business. and the methods of
operation, wanted no neighbors. With
in the last l. years there has been an
awakening to the opportunity which
lies in the plains drea, and settlers
have moved westward with such re-
markable rapidity that the day oil the
broad free range, with the old care
less and often inhuman methods of
stock raising. is about over. The day
Of small noeks and herds, winter fed
and fattened, on home grown forage,
l. At hand. The present'pioneers who
are c%onqnering the wilderness of
SCOTS Bluff county. were impelled by
the instinct of home building more
than by the love OF adventure OF the
lure Of gold to wander forth to this
new country and make homes for
themselves and children. Water is
now their most valuable fundamental
resource. but it must be taken care of
and used with intelligence and fore
thought OF it will lose most Of its
value.
The rapid narrowing of the limit, of
or %uuoocnpied public domain IN Ne
braska, and the tremendous increase
in values, all over the state, renders
it more difficult yearly for the Ia of
small means 10 get a foOthold on the
sol. So great is the land hunger over
the entire west that already 5000
families, composing some of the best
blood of the nation, have taken up
new homes under a foreign nag, our
greatness as a state must have its
foundation in the home of the mar
whose feet are firmly planted upon his
" land. There is no state stability
in a citizenship born and reared on
rented farms. Patriotism loy atty and
civic pride are not bred and fostered
in this WAY. An assurance that the
great mass of our people shall reside
in homes of their own, is an assurance
that our future will be one Of stahil-
ltr and progress. From the very in
teption of this republic our Legislator,
have recognized that it was a national
duty to render the acquirement of
homes ss easy AZ possible. Thi. rec
ignition uas shown in the homestead
law which opened the settlement of
Tic Mississippi valley.
The first extensive irrio,tf.n .ntcr.
nrise in the North p1,ttr ,,tfe, u,.
What was known osthe ar~mers,ran,r
which was started in 1877 pra,tir
ally. it may be said that the Farmer
canal is the first ON the North Platte
river, not only i'm point of time. but i'm
the amount of water it is entitled to
divert from the river and the area of
land which il can over From the
Platte river there extends , branches
OF rich soil. all of which are irripable.
and farther back from the river are
the bro,cn nndulatino stretcbs. which
are excellent grazing land. The alti.
tudc of the valley here n n from
lotto to 4.a01 feet Here the air is
pure, crisp and inviooratiup. The cN-
tfelny> OF heat and cold are tempered
ha IN, lack Of moisture. The mean
mccipitation is about Is inches wear
h. The heat of the dav is never or
pic>,iye. ana the summer NIGHTS are
always cool and delightful. When
the geographical location of the valley