The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1921-05-18
THE YELLOWSTONE DAM.

For some months past there has been more or
less agitation regarding the building OF dam
hold the flood waters at the Yellowstone Lake
in the national park Livingston citizens are
greatly interested in the project and there mas
been more or less work done all the way down
the Yellowstone river. Our good friend jerry
ocl5e has made several trips to Washington IN
the matter and Senator T. J. Walsh Of Montana
has introduced bill to permit the work to be
done in the park.
The Bozeman Woman's club recently has pass
a resolution condemning the bill and some public
itv has been given Senator Walshs reply. The
senator takes the women rather severely to task
for their stand and criticises their judgment.
The Courier does not possess the engineering
knowledge to pass on the merits or the demerltS
of the controversy. Those who are III position
to know and who are fighting the proposition
state that so far as holding the flood waters OF
the Yellowstone go, cheaper and fully as salts
factory dam site can be obtained at Yankee Jlms
canyon. where rocks form the greater part of
natural dam. They tell us that this dam will give
ample fall for water to be used for irrigation and
be fully as satisfactory the site in the park
for every purpose save that the site is not in the
park itself There are many rumOrs as to the
motive behind this effort to get permit to work
in the park. Some say that it is an effort on the
part of one of the railways to get into the park
itself. Others claim it is an attempt to get water
power. There seems to be a clOudng of real issues
and misapprehension all the way through.
Now the construction of dam would be of
great public benefit to the Yellowstone farmers
in their irrigation, this should be made federal
project and forever removed from any chance OF
private or state ownership. Yet we never have
heard of the reclamation service taking any in
terest in the matter, or what is more, being ask
ed to take interest in the matter. If it is water
power proposition, there is enough water power in
Montana to be developed outside the park with
out the spoilatiOn of national playground. There
IS little enough of our western country left I'M
touched now-let's save what we can for the COM
ing generation. For years the Yellowstone was
violated Of its treasures and wild life because
of inadequate laws Let's think seriously now be-
fore we permit some of these laws to be revoked
There is another phase of the matter Our
junior senator from Montana has penchant fol-
getting off on the wrong foot. BOzeman people
have not yet forgotten the time when he gave the
commencement address at the college, to class
of all engineers, and talked for two hours on what
"These Young Men Will Do for Agriculture in the
Treasure State" Nor have the voters forgotten
his betrayal of the state for what he hoped wa
national gain last fall. Walsh, brilliant lawyer
that he is, has an unhappy faculty for making po
litical mistakes. If he is for this project and h
introduced the BILL it is time for some of the res
of us to be "agin" it as a matter of principle an
past experience.
Be that as it may, we have yet seen no vail
reason for the violation of the park, for the con
structiOn of dam in national playground tina
could get the same results by being built else
where