Mountain Home maverick. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1906-1911, 1911-04-20

ne men WIN nave uh"'i N0iNNH ~
reclaim sections Of arid Idaho were
confronted with an enterprise Of such
magnitude that we sometimes think
them, themselves, never really APP
preciated their undertaking until af-
ter it was accomplished. In this state
we speak OF 100000 acres as tho
it were merely a good sized farm
and think in half million acres. Our
state and counties are so large that
we have lost the sense of proportion
The map is also deceptive in more
ways than one I'm making maps the
scale of miles is changed for the diff
ferent states and the eye does not
see Alright Mere figures give no idea
Of dimensions.
It is matter Of general knowledge
that the six large irrigation projects
generally spoken of as comprising the
Twin Falls country reclaim 100000
acres of land The six projects all
ready completed or now under way
are the South Side Twin Falls tract.
the North Side Twin Falls tract, the
Salmon river tract Goose Creek,
West End Twin Falls and Glover
Creek tracts. This generalization is
not correct except for the most cas-
ual purposes. The six projects take
in portions Of four counties viz:
Twin Falls, Cassia, Lincoln and El-
more and they are on both sides Of
the Snake river Later the separate
projects viii be more definitely To-
Gated
In Twin Falls country, as loosely
spoken oh above, there are 100000
acres Of land. now under water or
soon to be under water. Seven hum
bred and seven thousand acres does
does not seem much and it looks
less when looking at the map Of Ida
no. Seven hundred ana seven thou-
sand acres of covering as much ter
ritory as the entire state Of Rhode
Island including all its water arear.
Excluding the water country is lar
ger by thirty three thoustand and so
acres. The Twin Falls country as
above outlined is over half as large
as the state of Delaware, in fact it
is $4,000 acres larger 1t is "A as
large as Connecticut and is as large
as Massachusetts,.
Only in comparison with sover-
ign states of the union can one COM
mence to realize the area of the
tract of land reclaimed in one par
ticular section of Idaho. 1t is true
that this Is the large contiguous ir-
rigaed section in the state but 9TH
err sections offer wonderful opportun-
tiles for development. There is the
Bruneau tract and Bruneau Exten-
sion with a combined area of $780,
600 acres which will be undertaken
sooner or later. Following down the
Snake river are the Gem. Owyhee and
Kingman projects On either side of
the Snake are the valleys Of streams
and rivers such as the Boise with
nearly 100000 acres to be reclaimed
and possible of reclamation. The de-
velopment of southern Idaho is in
it's infancy and yet all told we have
already reclaimed an area in all parts
equal in area to the entire state OF
New Hampshire.
The men who are engaged in ex-
tensively building and financing irri.
cation prophets are not many com.
pared with men operating in other
lines Of industry. At the inception
of irrigation works in the west tn,
original investors without exception
lost money. Wildcat schemes were
in9ugurated. heavily bonded and in
vestors lost their money in whole
or in part The irrigation distric
system originated in California an'
the experiences Of that state in year
gone by did much to discredit thi
line of investment and it took year
TO overcome the bad reputation 81
early secured. Bad management il
early enterprises also did much Il
injure the credit of irrigation sec
urities Consequently the men VIII
viii undertake to build and financ
an irrigation are not to be found Il
all the marts of trade and money
Fortunately for Idaho the South Sid
Twin Falls project was huge sue
cess and the hacker of the enter
prise did very we'll. This enterpris
was undertaken and accomplishei
by Mr.. Frank H. Bull of Sharon, Pa
II was conceived in the mind of MI
]. P. Perrine. who had years befor
located at Blue Lakes Mr.. Perrin