The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1921-09-30

moral and financial. He will find real home.
And old Mother Nature will likely throw in health,
strength and happiness for good measure.
One of the photographs reproduced herewith
shows Royal N Allen of the Chicago Motor club
welcoming William D. Scott, leader of the cara
van. Mr.. Scott used to live in Minneapolis Then
lie went to Boston. Later he became a successful
sales manager in Brooklyn with home ut 23
Decatur street. He is midde-aged man. with
wife and two children. During the war he made
II reputation 'four-minute man." He had
made up his mind to drive to the West this sum
mer, buy ranch hang up his hat and grow up
with the country. Several of his neighbors grew
interested and asked to go along And that's how
the colony idea started.
Then Mr.. Scott wrote to commercial clubs and
state and county officials in different parts of the
West. Gov David w. Davis of Idaho responded
promptly with definite offer Mr.. Scott went to
Idaho and made study of land in Twin Falls
county, along the Snake river. Here's the way
Mr.. Scott tells it:
'"rhat settled It, When l that land knew
it just the place l looking for, and i'm
mediately took option on 5,120 acres The land
was offered to me at the uniform price of $12o an
acre, with water rights, $25 an acre to be paid
down at purchase and the balance within ten years
at per cent interest
This whole land project is supervised by the
state. 1t is financed by the Idaho Farm Develop
ment company, the president of which is E. 7.
Meredith, who President Wilson's secretary
of agriculture and who is practical farmer and
the proprietor of agricultural newspaper in
Des Moines Ia Mr.. Meredith and his associates,
incorporating under the Cary act spent S625,0OO
developing these tracts. The waters of three trib
utaries of the Snake river draining the watershed
of the Jarbidge mountains, AZ miles southwest
ward from colony, were damned and I'M
pounded in the Cedar Greek reservoir. Thence a
steel f1ume leads the water down through the
canyon of the Little Salmon river, irrigating the
lands which we have taken up for our future
homes and ranches. We have in all, an area of
about three miles by six.
.rhis irrigation enterprise Immediately made
marvelously fertile many thousands of acres which
heretofore had been merely a sagebrush prairie.
The had been used only cattle range ami
of the most sparsely settled districts in the
state. With irrigation. there isn't better country
for growing alfalfa, onions and the famous Idaho
potatoes. On farms in the same neighborhood ana
enjoying like advantages to ours there have been
grown world record crops of alfalfa, wheat to the
of 90 bushel to the acre and potatoes rating
as high 642 bushels TO the
"Buhl, nearest railroad town. is about j.
miles from the most distant ranches of colony.
1t is u lively town only nine years old, but with
about 1000 population. fine road. which is more
than 30 miles long and which runs directly through
our tract. connects Buhl with the new mining town
of Jarbidge. Out of the Jarbidge mountains the
Guggenheim interests have taken more gold than
all the yellow metal yielded by Alaska. The town
of Jarbdge is the natural center of that rich
try, and colony will be its nearest of
supply, with good road running straight into it
Mr.. Scott returned to Brooklyn bubhling over
with enthusiasm His enthusiasm was infectious
He hesieged with applications for member
ship But the 5120 acres will make only 12S
tracts of 40 acres each. So n weeding-out process
begun. Every prospective member was put
through the third degree. The rule was laid down
that every accepted member must be 100 per cent
American; must have at least $1,000 in cash:
be able to take care of himself and family
until the first crops marketed. Even then tha
12S members of the colony were quickly secured
In the meantime the Idaho people, who had evil
IDENTITY taken shine to the Brooklyn people, were
doing their part Governor Davis visited Brook
lyn and addressed meeting of the colonists The
Buhl chamber of commerce sent Ben II. Bushman
of its leaders and secretary of the Rotary club
with offers of service from the chamber and the
club SO the deal went through without a hitch