THE PATHFINDER DAM 



319 



its of the irrigable land in Nebraska, 

 the distance is fifty miles, and it is esti- 

 mated that 400,000 acres of lantl in 

 Wyoming and Nebraska, or more than 

 donble the total area of land cultivated 

 in the entire state of Rhode Island, will 

 be divided into small farms and irri- 

 gated. 



The comparison afiforded by the fol- 

 lowing table, showing the dimensions, 

 cost and elTectiveness of the Pathfinder 

 and three large eastern dams, is most 

 interesting : 



StorafTP 



Dam Heiifflit Longth Contents Cost capacity 



in ft. in ft. in cu. yils. acre-feet 



Patliflniler.. 215 300 00.400 .$1,200,000 1.02.5.000 



Waeliusett. 228 971 273.000 2.220.000 102.000 



New Croton 297 1.072 83:?. 000 7.0P.1.000 92.000 



.-isliokan . . . 220 M.SOO -7,000.000 12.700.000 308,000 



^Masonry. 1.000 feet, and earthwork. 3.800 feet. 

 -900.000 cnhic varils masonry and 7.000.000 of earth. 



It will be seen that the Pathfinder 

 dam, which cost only $1,200,000, has a 

 storage capacity more than ten times 

 that of the New Croton which cost six 

 times as much. 



One hundred miles from the storage 

 dam a low diversion dam has been 

 thrown across the river, which turns 

 the waters into the Interstate Canal, to 

 supply lands in Wyoming and Nebras- 

 ka. This canal when completed will 

 be 150 miles long, but at present only 

 ninety-five miles have been excavated. 

 It has a capacity at the headgates of 

 1.400 second-feet. Hundreds of miles 

 of laterals have been constructed to 

 distribute the water over the lands. 



One of the most attractive features 

 of the valley is its sunny, invigorating 

 climate. The summers are always 

 comfortable and the winters are rela- 

 tively mild. The general elevation is 

 about 4,000 feet above sea level. The 

 soil is a rich, sandy loam, with a crop- 

 producing capacity that to the farmer 

 of the humid region seems incredible. 

 Oats yielding 120 bushels per acre and 

 weighing forty-five pounds to the 

 bushel have been grown, and the aver- 

 age yield for the valley probably will 

 exceed sixty-five bushels. Three crops 

 of alfalfa are cut during the year, often 

 vielding five tons to the acre, and fifty 

 iaushels of corn per acre is a low yield. 



The region is particularly adapted to 

 the culture of sugar beets. As high as 

 twenty-eight tons per acre have been 

 ])r()duced with a sugar content of fifteen 

 per cent. Apples, plums, small fruit 

 and berries are grown for home con- 

 sumption. \'egetables bring good 

 prices, and the potatoes especially are 

 of superior quality. 



Hog and poultry raising and bee cul- 

 ture have proved very profitable. Back 

 of the valley and extending for hun- 

 dreds of miles is the vast public range, 

 upon which graze many thousands of 

 cattle and sheep. There is a heavy de- 

 mand for forage crops for winter feed- 

 ing, and a large part of the irrigable 

 lands wall be profitably devoted to these 

 crops for many years. 



Under the terms of the Reclamation 

 Act all of the land under this project 

 which belongs to the public domain is 

 open to entry under the homestead law 

 in farms of about eighty acres. Each 

 settler is rec|uired to pay his share of 

 the cost of building the irrigation 

 works. This amounts to $45 per acre, 

 payable in ten annual installments with- 

 out interest. 



Among all the great irrigation works 

 now under construction by the Govern- 

 ment, none is richer in historical asso- 

 ciations than the North Platte project. 

 It occupies more than 250 miles of the 

 old overland trail which was followed 

 by the California gold seekers and by 

 the Mormons in their migration west- 

 ward. The old highway is distinguish- 

 able in scores of places. With an aver- 

 age width of more than too feet 

 it stretches on, mile after mile, now 

 overgrown and distinguishable from the 

 general surroundings only by the dif- 

 ference in vegetation. Its great width 

 is principally due to the fact that the 

 Mormons traveled in great companies, 

 their wagons often moving in a solid 

 phalanx five or more abreast. Beside 

 the trail at numerous points lonely 

 headstones mark the graves of those 

 who perished on that western journey. 

 To those who have read "The Adven- 

 tures of Captain Bonneville," "Astoria," 



