HOME MAKING IN IDAHO UNDER THE CAREY LAW. 



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flict with any other district. Large capital will be 

 required to reclaim such a tract before any of it is 

 ready for settlement, but at a price based upgn the 

 cost of reclamation, the land will be eagerly sought 

 by the actual settler, thousands of whom will pay for 

 their homes in labor on the canals. 



EVILS OF PRESENT SYSTEM. 



The great drawback to Idaho's irrigation enterprises 

 has been the lack of adequate security back of bonds, 

 and another discouraging feature is the lack of skill- 

 ful cultivators under the canals after they have been 

 constructed. This came about through the securing 

 of large bodies of public lands under the Desert and 

 other land acts by a class of speculators, with the 

 result that though water has been available in many 

 favored places for from two to eight years, only about 

 eight per cent, of the land is now cultivated and the 

 anticipated revenue of many of the irrigation com- 

 panies is still in the future. 



By adopting the right policy the State may secure 

 the rapid settlement, in small tracts, of these large 

 selections which would soon lead to the cultivation 

 of the whole, thereby adding enormously to the pub- 

 lic wealth, a policy which our now irrigated districts 

 would be obliged to follow in order to keep up in the 

 race. 



The Oregon Short Line Ry. traverses the arid por- 

 tion of this State, the great Snake River Valley, from 

 east to west, a distance of nearly 400 miles; and it 

 is along the line of this railroad that these selections 

 will necessarily be made. 



THE SNAKE RIVER DESERT. 



The Great Snake River Desert, as it has been 

 called, presents very interesting features to the 

 irrigation engineer. Standing at Idaho Falls, on the 

 north side of the great Snake river, the country, to 

 the casual observer, shows every advantage of being 

 easily reclaimed, and the casual observer has been 

 reporting on the magnificent extent of the irrigable 

 portions of this great region for the past five years. 

 It has been variously estimated to embrace from 3,- 

 000,000 to 7,000,000 acres of irrigable land. We find, 

 upon examination, that the great lava fields along the 

 north side of the river extend on low levels to within 

 a few miles of it in many places, and at several 

 points great dykes of lava cross the valley from 

 north to south, which at one time dammed the river, 

 forming lakes above, but through which it cut a way, 

 rushing now at the bottom of black canyons, plunging 

 over falls, Niagaras in grandeur, and always a little 

 below advantageous points of diversion. 



The country drops off after each succeeding dyke, 

 dividing what is apparently one great plain into sev- 

 eral large basins, each presenting an interesting 

 study to the engineer, as each will require separate 

 investigation in order to determine the best and most 

 economic plan for its reclamation. 



The writer was interested in running about 250 

 miles of trial line for canals between the Idaho and 

 Shoshone Falls, and from information derived from 

 these surveys will say that the irrigable portion of 

 this great valley is not over one-quarter as large as 

 has been represented, and if the State makes wise 

 selections in it, under the Carey Law, but little of it 

 will be left to be reclaimed during our generation. 



HERE ARE SOME ANOMALIES: 



Idaho has to-day a little over 100,000 inhabitants. 

 She has enough land under ditch to support three 

 times that number, yet more than one-half the food 



consumed within the State is shipped from places 

 hundreds of miles away. 



The farmer pays transportation on his hogs to 

 Portland, Ore., and the groceryman pays transpor- 

 tation on his hams and bacon from Omaha. The 

 sheep man ships his wool to New York, and the cloth- 

 ier ships his clothing from New York. The fruit- 

 grower ships his prunes and apples as far east as 

 the Missouri River, and the merchant ships canned 

 goods from California, thus adding about one-fifth to 

 the cost of living, through railroad transportation 

 alone. 



Idaho stands almost at the head of the list of States 

 as producer of fruits of fine quality. Her mountains 

 are but half prospected, yet she is one of the greatest 

 producers of the precious metals. She has all the 

 resources of nature in great abundance. Her natural 

 products are diversified enough that instead of stand- 

 ing dependent on the enterprise of distant States she 

 should grow up self-supporting and independent. 



The Snake river promises grand things from this 

 very source. Heading in the grandest scenery on the 

 Continent, amidst the snow-clad mountains of the 

 Yellowstone Park, where a thousand little streams 

 empty into the great river the treasure of a Monte 

 Cristo, westward, across the State, it winds for 

 nearly 400 miles like a band of silver. The setting 

 in places is beautiful, in places it is rugged in the 

 extreme. 



As stated above, this valley is crossed by lava 

 dykes. Over these obstructions the great river 

 dashes down hundreds of feet into the carved channel 

 below. Here some day will be the great workshops 

 of the Northwest. Here, without the asking, has been 

 placed for the use of the people of this State a great 

 treasure worth millions of dollars. From morn to 

 eve, from summer to summer from age to age, a 

 giant force is spent, terrible when uncontrolled, but 

 harnessed, can be made to do the work of half a mill- 

 ion horses. 



RESERVE THE WATER POWERS. 



By this power every town and mine in South- 

 ern Idaho might be lighted, every pound of ore 

 crushed, the wheels of transportation moved, and 

 lathes, spindles and hammers driven for millions of 

 people. 



These great water powers should be reserved, or at 

 least guarded, by the State, and not be allowed to 

 fall into the hands of impecunious and irresponsible 

 speculators. 



It is in the vicinity of these great power sites that 

 the State may make selections under the Carey law. 

 But little interest has been manifested in this import- 

 ant matter. Perhaps it is because the bill was passed 

 as an amendment to what might have been considered 

 a more important bill, and as a result its existence is 

 but little known. 



The next legislature of Idaho, which meets in a 

 month, will be called upon to decide on the most 

 advantageous policy under which to proceed in order 

 that the State may derive the greatest advantage 

 from ihe Carey law. The successful carrying out of 

 such a policy means the construction of good and 

 substantial irrigation works, a plan of administration 

 which might be followed by other districts in the 

 State, and the settlement of these reclaimed lands 

 all under the auspices of the State. 



A COMMISSION PROPOSED. 



It will be impossible for a comprehensive plan, 

 covering all these departments, to be decided upon 



