190 ANNUAL, KEPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1910. 



$3.50 per acre is due and payable at the time of making entry. An 

 interesting feature in connection with this project is the establish- 

 ment of villages every 6 miles. In connection with the Fort Shaw 

 unit already opened the villages of Fort Shaw and Simms have been 

 established. 



Montana-North Dakota, Lower Yellowstone project. — Water is 

 diverted from Yellowstone River at a point 18 miles northeast of 

 Glendive, Mont., and will ultimately irrigate about 65,000 acres of 

 land, for 40,000 acres of which the works have been completed and 

 the water is now available. Two-thirds of the lands to be irrigated 

 are in Montana, the balance in North Dakota. 



The general elevation is 1,900 feet above sea level, and the temper- 

 ature ranges from 30° below to 100° above zero. The soil is a deep 

 sandy loam, easy to cultivate. Alfalfa, the great forage crop of the 

 West, is especially adapted to the soil and climate. Small grains are 

 raised with success and it is believed that sugar beets will be a profit- 

 able crop. The average rainfall is 16 inches. Surrounding the proj- 

 ect is one of the largest and best grazing areas in the United States, 

 providing a fine range for vast numbers of cattle and sheep. An 

 abundance of lignite for fuel is found throughout this section. 



The principal engineering features consist of a diversion dam on 

 Yellowstone River 12 feet high and 700 feet long, 259 miles of canals, 

 and the development of 290 horsepower. 



Nebraska-Wyoming^ North Platte project. — This is about 100 miles 

 north of Cheyenne, Wyo., extends along the North Platte River, and 

 includes about 129,000 acres. The average elevation is 4,100 feet above 

 sea level, and the temperature ranges from 25° below to 100° above 

 zero. The average annual rainfall on the irrigable area is about 15 

 inches. The soil is a sandy loam, quite free from alkali, and requir- 

 ing 2^ acre-feet of water per acre per annum. Alfalfa is the prin- 

 cipal crop, but cereals, sugar beets, and potatoes are successfully 

 grown. Excellent range country borders the irrigable lands in 

 Wyoming. 



The farm unit has been fixed at 80 acres, and the building charge 

 is $45 per acre. The watershed area is 12,000 .square miles, and the 

 estimated annual run-off of watershed at Pathfinder Dam is 1,370,000 

 acre- feet. The principal engineering features consist of a storage 

 dam forming what is known as the Pathfinder reservoir on the North 

 Platte River, about 50 miles southwest of Casper, Wyo., a diversion 

 dam 150 miles down the river at Whalen, Wyo. (pi. 7, fig. 1), and the 

 interstate canal, 150 miles long. Total length of canals 598 miles. 

 The Pathfinder Dam is a concrete rubble masonry arch 218 feet high 

 and 432 feet long on top. It is completed and the reservoir has a 

 capacity of 1,025,000 acre-feet. The diversion dam at Whalen is a 

 reenforced concrete weir 29 feet high and 300 feet long. A diversion 



