14 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



Such a work has more than local inter- 

 est. It is not only the most important 

 irrigation work yet seriously considered in 

 the State, but its magnitude as compared 

 to what has heretofore been accomplished 

 is so great as to overshadow all past efforts, 

 and its success is destined to exercise a 

 decisive influence on the future of the 

 State. 



In the face of the increase in population 

 and material wealth which must accrue, 

 the malignant and demagogical opposition 

 to agricultural development, which has 

 beset this enterprise and which has been 

 so conspicuous a feature of this State's 

 history, must cease. The effort to keep 

 this State as an open range, to array self- 

 ish interests against the State's growth, 

 to arouse prejudice against canal compan- 

 ies by demagogical appeals, has succeeded 

 in placing Wyoming behind every sur- 

 rounding State in population and material 

 prosperity. The inauguration of this 

 project under these adverse conditions 

 means a different and more enlightened 

 appreciation of our opportunities. 



This project is conceived on a broad 

 scale. A mammoth canal; an extensive 

 area to be reclaimed; immense possibili- 

 ties for material development in the gen- 

 eration of cheap power for mechanical 

 purposes; the creation of important towns 

 in what is now an unbroken solitude, and 

 the transformation of the conditions of 

 one of the most favored sections of the 

 State are attractive material results, but 

 they are equaled by the generous purpose 

 which inaugurated this enterprise and 

 which animates its president and leading 

 spirit. 



BUFFALO BILL'S ENTERPRISE. 



" I propose to leave a monument of my 

 work for the West by founding a colony 



in the Big Horn basin which shall be to 

 Wyoming what the Greeley Colonv is to 

 Colorado." 



This statement of Col. W. F. Cody 

 (Buffalo Bill) explains the origin and un- 

 derlying purpose of the Cody Canal. 

 While the work is intended to be a finan- 

 cial success, and will be managed to that 

 end, philanthropy is to share with profit 

 in all its transactions. It is not to be a 

 canal to acquire title to land. The land 

 goes only to actual settlers in tracts not to 

 exceed one hundred and sixty acres to each 

 settler. It is not intended to speculate on 

 the rise in land values. Each settler pays 

 fifty cents an acre, no more, no less. 

 Twenty- five cents on making entry and 

 twenty-five cents when proof is made of 

 reclamation. It is not a canal to derive a 

 perpetual or exorbitant income from 

 water rights. Each settler under the 

 canal must purchase an interest therein. 

 Not a vague promise, such as constitutes 

 many instruments known as water rights, 

 but an actual proportionate interest in the 

 work itself. The water rights come from 

 the State, attach to the land reclaimed and 

 are inseparable therefrom. The interests 

 in the canal will be based on the cost of 

 the work. It is simply capital, energy and 

 system combined to construct the works 

 for the settlers, who, when they are paid 

 for, will own and control them. 



If the experience of the last quarter of 

 a century is to be a guide this canal is 

 destined to be a success. A success be- 

 cause the physical conditions are favorable 

 and because settlers are here freed from 

 many of the economic mistakes, not to 

 characterize them more harshly, which 

 have marked settlement under earlier at- 

 tempts at canal building on a large 

 scale. 



