THE IRRIGATION AGE. 201 



State of Idaho. Teton Pass is incomparably the most difficult pass I 

 have met with in the mountains. Its slopes are so steep that one 

 would scarcely believe it possible for wagons to cross did he not see 

 the evidence of their having done so. Unlike most passes, the two 

 slopes of this one come together almost like the top of a roof, wit(h 

 no space on top; and it is but a mild exaggeration to say that a saddle 

 horse on arriving at the top is laboriously digging it way up on one 

 side with its hind feet and vigorously bracing with its fore feet to 

 keep from sliding down the other. 



On the summit of this pass we were in dense clouds from which 

 the rain came down in perfect floods until we were drenched through 

 and through. The road carried such torrents of water that it seemed 

 unsafe to travel in, but the occasion afforded an excellent opportunity 

 of seeing how forests protect mountain slopes from erosion by the 

 elements. The heavy rain causes streams of water to pour down 

 every gully or depression, but wherever this was in the forest areas 

 the water came out clear, notwithstanding its heavy volume. Wher- 

 ever we came upon open tracts destitute of vegetation the surface 

 water was invariably laden with sediment. 



That night we rested in the little village of Victor, being more 

 nearly played out than we were ready to admit. Next day the eighty 

 miles which I had to travel to reach the railroad took me through the 

 Teton valley, or as it used to be called, Pierre's Hole, and down Henry 

 and Snake rivers to Market Lake. Pierre's valley is well situated for 

 the development of irrigation, although I apprehend that if its lands 

 are ever all brought under cultivation the water supply may not be 

 equal to the requirements. The valley is some 30 miles long, and I 

 should say 10 to 15 wide, and will yet be the home of dense population. 



In the valleys of Henry Pork and the main Snake River, there was 

 a degree of system about the distribution of water that I had not else- 

 where noticed. I was greatly struck by the extent of these distribu- 

 tion systems, their regularity and thoroughness of construction, and 

 particularly by the way in which the canals or ditches were raised 

 above the general level and held between embankments. Although in 

 the rapid progress we were making, I saw only what was visible from 

 the highway, still there was enough to give me a high idea of the 

 thrift and good management that pervaded this entire country. The 

 question involuntarily arose, What people is this that understands its 

 business so well and pursues it so industriously? I did not, however, 

 have to ask, for the inscription "L. D. S.," which crowned the door- 

 ways of the numerous churches we passed gave me the answer, 

 must say that this exhibition of material prosperity did more to in- 

 cline me toward the doctrines of this much-abused people than did the 

 persuasions of my driver, an ex-Mormon missionary, who seemed to 

 think this an excellent opportunity, and myself a promising subject, 

 for the resumption of his abandoned calling. Although the general 



