Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1917-01-20
VALLEY OF ABUNDANCE
The Beautiful Belle Fourche Valley in
South Dakota Awakens From
Long Sleep.


the advent of the white face Hereford
and the fencing of thousands of home
steads, the cowboy has abandoned his
cayuse and taken up other employment.
The lonesome prairie has become land
scape dotted with hundreds of homes,
crossed with bands of steel and pulsat-
ing with the activities of thousands of
energetic and prosperous people.
The prairie sod which once supported
the nomadic herds and flocks, now plant
ed to cereals, fruits and vegetables, sus-
tains several hundred families on indi-
vidual farms and contributes to the well
being and prosperity of numerous viii
lagos and towns. All this transformation
has come about in ten short years as the
result Of the successful working out Of a
comprehensive plan Of reclamation by
the Government
The Irrigation Works.
Near the junction of the Belle Fourche
and Red Water rivers the engineers
have built large dam which diverts the |
combined food and normal flow Of both |
streams into huge canal in which it is |
carried to a natural depression between
two hills. This depression is blocked |
by one of the largest earthen embank-
ments in the world, the Owl Greek dam,
more than mile long and 100 feet high. |
The reservoir thus created il the largest |
body of water in the state, and the stor-
age capacity is ample for the entire area
of the irrigabe lands, 10000 acres. Lead
ing from the reservoir and from the
main feeder canal a perfect net work of
canals with a total length of 547 miles
brings the water to each individual tract
With the completion of the engineer
ing works settlers from all parts of the
country began to flock to this land of
promise Agriculture, intensive and
diversified, replaced the crude and hap
hazard methods typical of the COW coun-
try. Thousands of acres of sod land
were planted to cereals and alfalfa which,
irrigated intelligently, responded with
bountiful harvests.
The newcomers who pushed out to-
ward the setting sun were as class com
posed of the sons of the best families of
the Middle West They have developed
pride in their new home and are strong
in the faith that it has no equal among
the progressive new communities of the
Northwest Mentally, morally and So
cially they are unified in the great task
of developing new country on high
plane. They demand the best in schools
and churches, in roads and everything
which is now recognized as belonging to
an up to-date agricultural community.
The foundation OF our country's wealth
and prosperity is the soil. In the Belle
Fourche Valley soil, climate and water
are so well combined that the success of
the farmer is largely a matter of indivi-
dual effort Few regions offer snrer re-
wards for intelligent industry, condi-
ton which predcates cheerful com
munity.
The farmer from any Mississippi VAL
ley state, who seeks a home where he
may practice farming as he learned it,
can find no better place in which to
make the trial than on the Belle Four
che project.
Good News for Homeseekers.
On Feb. Sth, the Reclamation Service
will open for settlement approximately
900 acres under the terms of the home
stead and reclamation laws. Irrigation
water will be furnished fer these lands
| during the season of 1917. These farm
units, each of which will contain about
80 acres of irrigable land, are we'll adapt
ed to the cultivation of sugar beets,
alfalfa, and all grains. While no sugar
factory has yet been built, the Great
| Western sugar Company has announced
its intention of building factory at
| Belle Fourche to take care of the 1918
crop, and has purchased site and HOO
acres of land. Beets grown in 1917 will
| be shipped TO the SCOTS Bluff, Neb,
factory.
The new farms are especially desirable
for stock raising, as they are adjacent to
an immense open range where cattle
may be herded during the spring, sum-
mer and autumn and wintered on the
project hay stacks. Nearly 10000 head
of sheep are now being fed here.
The cost of the land is only the filing
fee, about 81. 90 for an S0-acre tract. In
addition the entryman must pay per
cent. of the building charge, or " % per
| acre, at the time of fling, and further
obligate himself to pay the balance,
$42. 25 per acre, in fifteen annual install
ments, the first of which will be due and
payable on December LIST of the fifth
| Calendar year after the initial payment.
AS an evidence OF the increased value
which water gives to the land 1t may be
stated that lands homesteaded in 1912
and valued at that time at S25 per acre,
have been sold recently at S75 to $l25
per acre, the buyer 10 pay the balance
OF the building charges.
| The Statistician OF the Reclamation
Service at Washington, d. c., will, on
request, send descriptive pamphlets and
answer all inquiries concerning the loca'
| ton and terms of entry.
This will be one of the few remaining
opportunities for settlers TO enter public
lands on this project. Exceptional OPP
! portunties for investments IN farms Will
be found here, as many present owners
Of large tracts are subdividing their hold
ings and terms aud prices are liberal