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THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



At some point in Nevada on the Central Pacific 

 Railroad. 



In the Boise valley of Idaho. 



Near Pendleton, Oregon. 



At Walla Walla and Yakima, Washington. 



At Missoula, Great Falls and Billings, in Montana. 



At Bakersfield, Modesto and Hemet, in Cali- 

 fornia. 



At Phoenix and Tucson, in Arizona. 



At Eddy and Las Cruces, in New Mexico. 



We would be glad to see Independence Leagues 

 and Demonstration Farms in many more places than 

 are here suggested, but if the people of the localities 

 named will take up the idea this spring, and carry it 

 through to completion by next autumn, a tremendous 

 gain will be made for the irrigation cause. 



THE IRRIGATION AGE invites correspondence in 

 relation to this matter, and will gladly publish all de- 

 tails of progress. It will do everything in its power 

 to give communities the greatest possible advantage 

 in the way of making known the results achieved by 

 demonstration farms. We know the importance of 

 this thing, and, with whatever influence we may pos- 

 sess, we urge the friends of irrigation to take up the 

 matter, and to prove, beyond all possible dispute, 

 that industrious families can live well on small 

 farms, with all the social advantages that means, in 

 their neighborhood. The demonstration farms can,, 

 of course, be made to more than repay their cost in 

 direct returns from the soil, to say nothing of the 

 value of the object-lesson and the advertising it will 

 necessarily carry with it. 



THE FIRST LESSON IN CANAL BUILDING ON THE CROW AGENCY, UNDER THE INSTRUCTION OF 



WALTER H. GRAVES.* 



IRRIGATION WORK OF THE CROW INDIANS. 



IS IT possible to .utilize the energies and industry 

 of unprosperous masses in Eastern cities and 

 towns in the work of building canals and cre- 

 ating farms on the public lands? Will it then be 

 possible to show them how they can become inde- 

 pendent and self-supporting citizens? The first of 

 these things is to-day in process of successful accom- 

 plishment by the Crow Indians in Montana. Those 

 who know most about the matter believe that the 

 second thing the transformation of these poor red 

 men into successful tillers of the soil will also be 

 accomplished. 



It is probably not necessary to argue, even with a 

 Harvard professor, that the white workingmen of the 

 East are at least as intelligent as the red loafers of 

 the West. Physically and intellectually the white 

 laborer is at least the equal of the Crow Indian. It 

 may be true that the Indian is better fed, and there 

 may be those who would claim that he has been 

 reared in more luxury. But certainly there is no 

 reason to doubt that the success of the experiment 

 on the Crow Reservation will carry a very strong 

 argument as to the feasibility of teaching unem- 

 ployed men to become landowners and farmers. 



* The Indian at work is Chief " Spotted Horse." He is now one of the best workers. Spotted Horse was the only Crow Chief who 

 favored the recent cession of 2,000,000 acres of the Crow Reservation to the Government, and he carried the question of the cession to 

 a favorable issue against the combined influence of the other chiefs. He favors the idea of Indians working their way to civilization 

 and earning their own living, rather than having annuities, provisions, clothing, etc., bestowed upon them by the Government. He 

 says if the Indians can be furnished work and honestly paid for it and fairly treated they can take care of themselves. 



