The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1909-12-09
4 SEVEN MILLION
DOLLAR DAM
A Structure Higher Than the Famous
New York Flatiron Building Out
In Wyoming.

Uncle Sam does some foolish things
sometimes, but he is pretty hard
headed after all when it comes to
business proposition, and he is the
promoter in this case; the strange
part of it is that this structure will
make more money for more people
and be Of far more benefit to the COM
munity as whole than the Flatiron
Building or any other big city build
ing, for it will be the means Of hous-
Ing and furnishing livelihood to
over 10000 people, and it is not a
ph1lanthropic enterprise, either.
1t Is a simple proposition, too
Imagine Uncle Sam, If you will, as one
Of those giants of ancient mythology
who over-strode the world, and see
him take in his hands a massive, "
shaped wedge of stone, a good deal
the shape of the Flatiron Building,
only larger, and carefully insert it be-
tween the towering canyon walls of a
turbulent, roaring mountain river,
damming the waters and at the same
time forever blessing them to man
kinds use; them watch his fingers as
they slowly draw burrows in the
earth's surface. away from the base of
the wedge and out over as fair coun-
try as the sun shines. upon; then see
the water gates open and the life-giv-
ing waters flowing through these fur
rows, with fertile farms and pros.
porous villages springing into exist
ence as though by magic.
And there you have the picture of
what Uncle Sam is doing for his chill
dren in what, until this time, has been
one of the out-of-the-way corners of
the countryside Big Horn basin of
Wyoming, lying a short distance east
OF Yellowstone National Park.
The Canyon is that of the Shoshone
River, the wedge, the highest masonry
dam ever constructed, the burrows
made by the giants fingers, the irri-
cation canals and bitches which carry
the water which is rapidly causing
10000 acres of arid land to blossom
as the rose. This is one Of those rare
occasions when business proposition
makes vivid appeal to the imagina-
ton. for foolhardy indeed would have
been he who, a few years ago, would
have predicted the glorious agricul-
tural future of this country then COW
cred with buffalo grass and sage
brush. But the soil is SO rich and the
conditions, with proper water supply
so favorable, that crops are here pro.
: duced rivaling those of the Valley OF
the Nile itself-the ancient granary of
the woodland are several times as
large as those produced in the humid
regions of our own country.
A few years ago given over to the
cowboy and the big cattle rancher, il
to-day retains some OF the flavor OF
the wild west, with Cody, named after
that famous scout, Buffalo Bill" as
its principal town; here, too, Buffalo
Bill still makes his last frontier stand
against the encroachments of civiliza
ton, for in addition to the town be
ing named after him, he owns the no
tel-one of the best in Wyoming-and
maintains a hunting lodge in that
primeval forest which still exists be
tween Cody and the National Park.
The Government is spending about
s7000,000 to reclaim these so-called
arid lands, and when the dam and
other works, including a 31a-mile wa
ter tunnel through the solid rock, anG
numerous canals and laterals, are
completed, which they will be by the
end of 1909, opportunity will have
been provided for thousands of people
to become Independent and gair
homes for themselves. Already some
CT the lands have been irrigated anc
about 10000 acres settled upon, ant
other farms are now open to the frs
conner and on the easiest of payments
In addition to the government irri
cation enterprise, private capital il
building other irrigation SYSTEM
which, when completed, will meal
over million acres of irrigated Ian,
in this famous region, enough land t,
support on the farms and in the town
which are growing up as a natura
result, over quarter of a million
people The railroads are not back
ward in realizing the assured futur
of this country and are spending mil