American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1917-03-29
AN OPPORTUNITY FOR LEAsERs.


Thousands of acres of land under the Fort Hall
government system that will produce as fine pea and
aIal1a seed a. is grown at American Falls, Aberdeen
or Springfield as fine sugar beets as are grown at
B~lackfoot, Sugar City, in Colorado, or anywhere in
the United States; as fine potatoes as are grown at
Twin Falls, Idaho Falls, Aberdeen, or Greeley. Colo
RADIO; as fine alfalfa hay as can be grown in anv of
the fertlle irrigated valleys of the west, and other
products OF like quality, may be leased for. five years
without any cash rent. The entire west has no on
~portunity for the renter that equals this.
inns opportunity exists only because the land is in
the Fort Hall Indian reservation and the govern
ment is anxious to get it under cultivation.
Stated tersely and truthfully, there is no better
SOIL, no better irrigation systems, no easier conditions
TO meet, no greater opportunities, and no more fav-
oraole combination of conditions that are to be found
en- this reservation.
This land is for lease in unlimited areas. for five
year periods, and may be released at the end of the
hve year period, the lessee being given a preferer CO
right. At the expiration of the lease the land NAV
be offered for sale, at which time the lessee will have
an equal chance with anyone to buy it. The Onlv con-
dltlons are: Lessees must clear and break the lands
and put them In cultivation, and place thereon per-
manent improvements such as buildings, fences.
wells, etc, to the value of S. per acre, and leave one
fourth of their lease in alfalfa at the expiration of
the lease. One person may lease all the land he.can
handle properly.
The canal system has been constructed for several
years, and water is furnished from April Is to Octo-
Der Is. All one will have to do is to convex the water
from the canal or a lateral leading from it. for a
short distance, over a level country. Water for do
nestle purposes underlies the surface from thirty
to 100 feet.
The land lies along the Oregon Short Line between
P~ocatello, with a population of $4,000, and Blackfoot,
$500. The most remote of it is not more than fifteen
miles from either place. None of it is more than
SIX miles from the railroad. The railroad runs
through the center of the tract. Some of the land
is within six miles of Pocatello, and some within a
mile of Blackfoot, and less than two miles from the
Blackfoot sugar factory.
Land all around the tract. is under cultivation, and
an inspection of it will convince the most skeptical.
Fifty to seventy-ive dollars an acre is a conservative
estimate OF the annual returns from this land when
tarmed with reasonable intelligence. 1t will pro-
duce from 10 to p tons of beets, at 81 per ton: four
to six tons of alfalfa at from $40 to SIS average per
ton; from 100 to 200 sacks of potatoes of about 125
pounds each; and from SIS up for alfalfa seed.
Why are these opportunities open? The Indians
are stockgrowers. They do not take to general
farming, and few of them will put their lands under
CULTIVATION. There are some exceptions, but horses
and cattle are their ideals. Otherwise this leasing
opportunity would not exist.
And the Indians, are they wild? Well, some of
them do drive automobiles, but they are not consid-
cred dangerous; others are graduates of Carlisle.
and there is a fine Indian school at Fort Hall. half
way between Pocatello and Blackfoot. They are
neither dangerous nor troublesome.
Lack of experience in irrigation should deter no
one from taking advantage of the opportunities here
offered. One may take a train about 8 in the morn
ing and proceed to the Aberdeen experiment station.
have ample time to confer with the superintendent
and make observations and be home about 5 o. m.
Or he may visit the Technical Institute at P~ocatelo
and confer with its agricultural instructors. And
then the neighbors, many of whom have irrigated
all their lives, will be only too willing to advise and
assist the novice.
For further information, application should be
made to Horton H. Miller, u. S. Indian Superinten-
dent, Fort Hall, Idaho.