IIO 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



that it produces excellent potatoes and other root 

 crops and immense yields of barley, wheat, etc. 

 Strawberry creek empties into the Duchesne river 

 and finds its way to Green river. 



ABUNDANT WATER. 



The entire Uintah reservation is a basin, having 

 such a system of rivers and creeks running toward 

 a central point to the entrance of the Duchesne into 

 Green river as to make a map of it resemble a palm 

 fan with its main stem or handle and dozens of ribs 

 branching off in various directions. These streams 

 are all formed in the high mountains, are fed by 

 melting snows and springs, and are never failing, and 

 carry abundant water to irrigate all the arable lands 

 of the valley, including the mesas, which are as good 

 as any. The mesas, or uplands, produce excellent 

 and abundant crops of wheat, barley, oats and grasses. 

 Around the agencies the Indians raise all the fruits 

 of the temperate zone. 



The elevation of the valley is some higher than 

 that of Salt Lake Valley, but the climate is about the 

 same. Salt Lake Valley has a national reputation for 

 fine fruit, and the valley of the Green and Duchesne 

 are destined to win similar laurels. The Indians 

 around the agencies cultivate in all some six or eight 

 thousand acres of land, both bottom and upland, with 

 fine results. Wild fruits grow luxuriantly all over 

 the reservations. 



Besides the streams already named, the great Green 

 river runs through the eastern end of the reserva- 

 tions from north to south, while White river and other 

 streams come in from the east and empty into the 

 Green. All these streams, besides being never fail- 

 ing, have ample fall, with good dam and reservoir 

 sites enough to make extensive systems of irrigation 

 both easy and comparatively inexpensive. It will be 

 a good field for irrigation enterprise and capital to 

 operate. 



AS A MINING COUNTRY. 



But great as is the agricultural and stock raising 

 resources of this reservation country, to the mining 

 men it promises even greater inducements to enter 

 within its borders. The Uintah, the Wasatch and 

 White River mountains, all contain minerals. Years 

 ago a copper mine was opened in the Uintah mount- 

 ains and mined until it got into litigation, and it paid 

 well, even after a cost of $40 per ton for hauling to 

 the railway in Wyoming, a distance of 125 miles. 

 This, of course, was outside the reservations. Lately 

 prospectors have been scouring the hills within the 

 reservations limits, and gold, silver, lead and copper 

 have been found, and just as soon as the reservations 

 are thrown open there will be a rush to put up stakes 

 and file on claims now known and others to be uncov- 

 ered. 



ASPHALTUM. 



Several years ago some Salt Lake men found a vein 

 of pure asphaltum just within the limits of the Uintah 

 reservation. It was of so great value as to induce 

 them to purchase the land of the Indians and get 

 Congress to ratify this by the passage of an act 

 changing the line so as to place the mineral outside. 

 Since then the Gilsonite Mining Company has shipped 

 thousands of tons of " Gilsonite "the name given to 

 the substance to points east for manufacturing into 

 lacquers, varnishes, etc. The vein is four feet thick,, 

 stands perpendicular and crops out for miles. Gil- 

 sonite and other forms of asphaltum are found over 

 a large scope of this reservation country. There are 

 extensive stretches of country covered with lime and 

 sandstone, saturated with asphaltum, which will be 

 useful in street paving, etc. This is near White Rock 

 agency. 



In no other place in the United States are carbons 

 and hydrocarbons found in as great and varied forms 

 as here. There are several extensive naphtha springs 

 pouring out semi-liquid streams, while elaterite or 

 mineral rubber abounds in places, and ozakerite or 

 mineral wax is found in many places. It is said that 

 the Indians have found small quantities of amber,, 

 and there are abundant signs of great quantities of 

 petroleum existing on Green river southeast of White 

 Rock agency. 



Near the southern boundary of the reservation there 

 is an abundance of lignite, of epsom salts, and other 

 mineral salts found along many tributaries of Green 

 river, and these exist in such great quantities as to 

 promise magnificent returns in commerce as soon as 

 railway communication is made direct with the coun- 

 try. 



TIMBER AND STONE. 



Building stone of white, gray and red sandstones 

 is simply inexhaustible in quantity and of superio 

 quality. There is also great wealth in store in the 

 forests covering the mountains. White and yellow 

 pine, cedar and fir trees seventy-five to one hundred 

 feet high and two and a-half to four feet diameter are 

 very common, while smaller trees afford abundant 

 supplies of railroad ties, poles and posts for fences, 

 etc. In the valleys along the streams are aspen, wil- 

 low and cottonwood, a good source of supply and 

 profit to the homemaker. 



A SPORTSMAN'S PARADISE. 



The writer, some three years ago, saw a shipment 

 of nearly three thousand deer skins to a merchant in 

 Salt Lake. These the Indians had made into dressed 

 skins after having slaughtered the animals, chiefly for 

 the hides, which brought them only a few cents each. 

 This incident is mentioned to convey some idea how 

 prolific deer grow in that country, even while this in- 



