La Junta tribune., 1916-01-01
slfssalss - - ASlEaaals yallsy.

nbout BAH Nv oo& ~ 49, -
tueen Pueh1o - ~ Knnsas llno. =
aays Leroy n. Campesll = : reesat
issue of ~ Ftss6 anA rasn. r -
racked ~ peair1s sehooasr Aera =
Las Animas. Best county. Il 6spesl-
hsr. 1879. This pIaee . 4 = NOW =
= modern up - dats town of sons
four thousand psoDis. Il vas evisin-
ally the only tovn bstvssn Do1ep
City, Kan. and Pnsblo. : distancs u
ESQ miles. nsver nv : Wild lndiaa
81 buffalo in al ny NE but ~
bones r. each wsrs sunsross III over
this then uninhahitafed hars. blsak
prairie with nothing In sight bat the
Arkansas river and The cottoauood
trees along it, banks -iavitins ~
homeseeker. under the advics Of Hor.
ace Greeley to go vest youag maa
and grow up With the countSy..'
Colonel Bent. Kit Carson. John
n. Chivington. John ". .Prewess and
many. others Of similar serips and
courage blased the trail and made Il
possible for the white man 70 inhab-
II this valley--now considered one
among the leading agricultural dis
tric,s west Of the Mississippi river.
What was formerly Bent county ex-
tending from Pueblo county to the
state line u now divided into five
counties-Prowers. Bent. Otsro. Ki-
owa AMI Crowley. Thsss are average
counties OF the United States With
twelve modern towns, each averaging
5000 Inhabitants. From the state
line to Pueblo they are Holly. Gran
ada. Lamar. Las Animas. La Junta.
swink. Rocky Ford. Mansanola. Fov-
Ter. Boone and Nepesta. The land Of
fices are II Pueblo and Lamar. The
Atchison. Topeka and Santa Re has
. modern up 10 date railroad on each
side Of the river the entire length Of
the valley. The Missouri Pacific cuts
through from twelve to twenty miles
north In what II known ~ the dry
land farming district exteuding all
along It's entire route-some fifty
miles In width. South Of the river
the entire distance Of the valley there
is also . vide stretch OF dry land
farming where some 10000 farmers
have entered homesteads In the last
five yesrs.
To see their fields Of cereal crops
makes an irrigation farmer stick his
eyes out with envy. Some 500 miles
OF irrigation canals vend their way
on bothl sides Of the river and they
are kept busy the year around irri-
eating the land aud filltng the reser-
voirs- All Of them are filled st prss-
eat and ~ h the bsst year vs svsr
tad. Were al these reservoirs II oae
body . fellow would have 70 travel
around . volume Of water tsn feet
deep for 500 miles. Three hundred
thounand acres Of land are kept an
ply moist for al crops. such a. three
toes Of alfalfa hay to the acre. fifty
bushels Of wheat. spring or fall. The
ssme for oats. the maises and corr.
Al this 10 going on here without any
sppsopriations from the goverumest
or state.
Some SOC. 200 lambs and ewes are
being fatiened here together with
Iee. goo head of cattle. One hundred
sasioads Of hogs have been raised.
fattsned and shipped from my town
Esd speakinR conservatively ice car
loads Of poultry and eess have also
see out. Our dairy business With
csDltai invested Will crowd the two
mil1son mark very closely. One hun-
drs1 carloads Of horses and mules
have been shipped 10 the slaughter
sssels os our European unfossuaases.
We have five 500 ton sugar factories
ruaoiag 1so days In the year. tara
lag out every swcaty-sour hours lice
aaeks Of one hundsed pounds each
fre0 susar beess sAst averass sssh-
tseo oees 10 the acre. TIE sarmssu
a ess valley ere here - veil a. shs
vees1 ever the hub Of shs whole ST.
uae3ee--both irsisasoss and so-called
~ oaa1ess. No csop vlil grow -
sbeeouesoy dry lasd. but vhsa ~
fss0ees eAe world over Ieasn 70 coa-
sesve ~ 0etssurs - eur valjsy ~.
nses ass 1slas aapls nelaure vnl
- sseaias1 - maks essps.
~ Canuove1 leyuocpy.