d80 THE IRRIGA TION A GE. 



After this brief sketch of the beginnings of American irrigation, 

 some of the lessons which will be considered at a later point in this 

 article, we may appropriately turn to the great region as a whole and 

 the complex legal, economic and social problems with which its agri- 

 culture will vex the future. 



Mount Union rises in solemn grandeur in the Wind River moun- 

 tains of Wyoming south of Yellowstone Park. From this park flows 

 three streams, which, with their tributaries, control the industrial fu- 

 ture o a region greater than any European country save Russia, and 

 capab.e of supporting a larger population than now dwells east of the 

 Mississipp. river. These streams are the Missouri, the Columbia and 

 the Colorado. The first waters the mountain valleys on the eastern 

 slope of the Rockies and the semi-arid region of the Great Plains; the 

 second, the Pacific northwest, including part of Montana, all of Idaho, 

 and the major portion of Oregon and Washington; the third, the south- 

 west, embracing much of Utah and western Colorado, parts of New 

 Mexico, and California, and all of Arizona. 



In this vast district, when reclaimed, homes may be made for many 

 millions of people. To effect this result is a task inferior to no other 

 in the realm of statesmanship or social economies. It is the nation's 

 farm. It contains practically all that is left of the public domain, and 

 is the chief hope of a free home for those who dream of enjoying 

 landed independence, but who have little besides industry and self- 

 denial with which to secure it. As it is now, this land has but little 

 value. In many places a township would not support a settler and 

 his family, and a section of land does not yield enough to keep a light- 

 footed and laborious sheep from staring to death. This is not because 

 the land lacks moisture. Where rivers have turned from their course, 

 the products which have resulted equal in excellence and amount those 

 of the most favored district of ample rainfall. 



There are only 6,000,000 acres of cultivated land along the Nile. 

 It is all irrigated. Where there is no irrigation there is desert. This 

 little patch of ground has made Egypt a landmark in the world's 

 history. It supports over 5,000,000 people and pays the interest on a 

 national debt half as large as our own. The Missouri and its tribu- 

 taries can be made to irrigate three times the land now cultivated 

 along the Nile. 



The essence of the problem to be met at the outset is the control 

 and distribution of the water supply, since not. only the enduring pros- 

 perity but the very existence of the homes created will be conditioned 

 upon the ability to use these rivers for irrigation. The diverse inter- 

 est of individuals and communities, and even of different states, will 

 all be dependent on streams flowing from a common source. To re- 

 claim all the land possible will involve the spreading of water over a 

 surface as large as New England with New York added. Standing 

 now at the birth of things and looking down the vista of the future, 



