THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



The 



Oregon 



Outlook. 



could not be obtained with any of these factors miss- 

 ing. 



The friends of irrigation in Oregon are 

 much depressed at the failure of their 

 Legislature to accept the Carey grant 

 and provide for a State Engineer. But there is no 

 good reason for discouragement. It is only in very 

 recent years that Oregon would seriously entertain 

 the proposition that irrigation was necessary. A large 

 majority of the people live where the climate is very 

 humid, and are more inclined to vote for appropria- 

 tions that would help to shut the rain off, than for 

 those designed to assist in furnishing artificial moist- 

 ure. And yet during the past winter some of the 

 strongest influences west of the Cascades were array- 

 ed on the side of the irrigation measures pending in 

 the Legislature. It seems highly probable that if 

 there had been no senatorial contest on hand, legisla- 

 tion would have been secured and the irrigation era 

 fully inaugurated. There is a vast amount of land in 

 eastern Oregon that can be reclaimed, and some of it 

 could be opened up for colonization quite cheaply. 

 The greatest need of immediate action, however, is 

 in districts already settled by people who cannot get 

 a living under present conditions. The country 



around Pendleton is such a district, andiit is sincerely 

 to be hoped that the earliest irrigation developments 

 in Oregon will occur in that locality. 



In Idaho there is a growing enthusiasm 



Idaho 



People m regard to colonization. The new Ply- 

 Cheerful. mouth Colony is destined to be one of 

 the chief glories of this State, and the people are be- 

 ginning to see it in that light. Perhaps no other west- 

 ern State is gaining ground more rapidly than Idaho, 

 or promises to achieve more in the next ten years. 

 Idaho is one of the few States which does not have 

 to worry about water supply, or discuss storage possi- 

 bilities. Several plans are on foot to make use of the 

 Carey law. 



The reported ascendency of James J. 



Hill in the Northern Pacific control may 

 Northwest. mean a g rea t deal more to Montana and 

 Washington. With the Great Northern and North- 

 ern Pacific both in his hands, and with a vast domain 

 of arid lands on the line of these routes, it is more 

 than likely that Mr. Hill's phenomenal energy and 

 extraordinary ability will be directed to the work 

 of reclaiming and settling this territory. He has in- 

 timated as much already in a published interview. 



J. J. Hill 

 in the 



