THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



129 



commonwealth, four great railroad systems, 

 the Northern Pacific. Burlington & Mis- 

 souri River, Great Northern and the Union 

 Pacific railroads furnish transportation to 

 all portions of the state at prices relatively 

 as cheap as other sections of the country 

 possess, and connect us with the great 

 lakes, the two oceans and the gulf of Mex- 

 ico. And while the distance to any coast, 

 and consequent freight charges largely pro- 

 hibit the export of our possible surplus 

 products, it should, through proper legisla- 

 tive enactment, serve as a stimulus to a 

 complete home production and supply of 

 our wants. Montana's mining industry 

 creates a demand simply marvelous, which 

 is now almost wholly met by imports from 

 other states, with resulting high prices; 

 hence the settlers who come are guaranteed 

 homes and water supply without interme- 

 diate profits to any one, a splendid and un- 

 limited market for properly diversified pro- 

 ducts of the farm, and a freedom from mo- 

 nopoly, except in transportation (a condi- 

 tion existent everywhere, and that will 

 eventually be corrected.) 



As the Montanian has said, the Missou- 

 ri river extends into and drains all that 

 portion of the state east of the Rocky 

 mountain divide, by numerous forks and 

 branches, and to the principal one of these 

 we desire to call attention at this time. 



THE YELLOWSTONE RIVER AND VALLEY. 



The Yellowstone river divides with the 

 Snake river of Idaho, and the Madison riv- 

 er the work of draining the famous Yellow- 

 stone National Park, the Snake doing duty 

 on the western slope, emptying into Colum- 

 bia river, the Madison the northwestern 

 portion, and the Yellowstone the northern 

 and largest portion, together with the high 

 snow-capped mountains thereto adjacent. 

 The river, as it leaves the park, travels 

 north for about 50 miles, then turns to the 

 east, which trend it maintains for about 

 250 miles,' when it again turns to the north 

 to join the Missouri river in the north- 

 eastern corner of the stato. Its total length 

 approximates 400 miles. Into the river,at 



intervals, empty streams of more or less 

 magnitude. 



The valley of the Yellowstone, therefore, 

 extends in varying widths from the north- 

 ern boundary of the park to the river's- 

 final junction, and includes the lateral val- 

 leys appurtenant to the side streams. Its 

 configuration is unique, for it has many 

 levels and assumes a variety of forms. The 

 bottom or level nearest the streams is nar- 

 row and of doubtful value for farming; 

 next is a level commonly called a ' 'bench, ' r 

 in the southern arid states "mesa." which 

 at some period was the level next the river; 

 this sometimes measures in width six or 

 seven miles, and in length upwards of 30 

 miles. These benches alternate in locality 

 on one side and the other of the river, ac- 

 cording to the caprice of the floods, and 

 continue its full length. Next are found 

 at different elevations and without regular- 

 ity basins and flats that harbor lakes fed 

 by melting snows and springs, so that the 

 valley of the Yellowstone is not as valleys 

 are usually understood, but a vast collec- 

 tion of steps and depressions. 



Now that a general picture of Montana 

 and the Yellowstone river and valley has 

 been presented, we call attention to the 

 Billings bench. This is one on the level 

 mentioned, second from the Yellowstone 

 river, which extends on one side its full 

 length. This bench (district No. 1) begins 

 about two miles east of the city of Billings, 

 in Yellowstone county, and is 25 miles in 

 length, and about five miles in width. The 

 Northern Pacific and the Burlington rail- 

 roads center at Billings and parallel the 

 bench, thus giving ample transportation 

 facilities. 



CANAL AND WATER SUPPLY. 



The canal heads in section 14 of town- 

 ship two south, range 24 east, and is sup- 

 plied from the Yellowstone river, which 

 fl6ws from 200,000 miner's inches 5,000 

 cubic feet per second to 1,400,000 miner's 

 inches 35,000 cubic feet per second. The 

 canal is 20 feet wide on the bottom, .with 

 a one to one side slope, and six feet depth 

 of water. The grade permile is 2. 112 feet. 



