1 10 THE 1RBIGA 110N 



Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and the eastern part of 

 Colorado. Here may be found thousands of ruins, indicating the at- 

 tempts made to secure a foothold without first providing a water sup- 

 ply. It is truly the land of famine, for, like all the great famine regions 

 of the world, its soil is extraordinarily rich and everything is conduc- 

 ive to prosperity except the one factor of rainfall. 



While the government has not taken up seriously this matter of 

 the reclamation of the arid and semi-arid lands, congress has author- 

 ized various investigations by the Department of the Interior, in whose 

 charge are the public lands, and by the Department of Agriculture , 

 In 1888 the geological survey was authorized to investigate the extent 

 to which the arid lands could be redeemed by irrigation, and since 

 that time it has been systematically measuring the streams, survey- 

 ing reservoir sites, and obtaining facts and figures on which to base 

 an estimate of the cost of reclamation. 



Not only are the surface streams being measured, but investiga- 

 tions are being made of the underground waters and their movements. 

 Maps showing the depth of water-bearing beds beneath the surface 

 are being prepared, showing by lines or colors the depth to which a 

 well must be sunk in order to reach the pervious rocks. In localities 

 where artesian wells occur these maps also show the height to which 

 water will rise above the surface. Many of the desert valleys of the 

 West are thus being watered by the apparently unlimited supply ly- 

 ing far beneath the dusty surface. 



Among the most notable of the recent works of the geological 

 survey are the examination of St. Mary's River In Montana, and of 

 Gila River in Arizona. St. Mary's River, receiving water from the 

 snow clad Rocky Mountains flows along the eastern base of these into 

 Canada and carries away to the north the waters needed on the dusty 

 plains still further to the east. Milk River, a tributary of the Mis- 

 souri, rises against the side of St, Mary's River, and is cut off by the 

 well-watered mountain area. It is thus a mere brook or rivulet, ex- 

 cept in times of storm. 



The division of hydrography of the geological survey has demon- 

 strated that the water from St. Mary's River can be conducted around 

 into the head waters of Milk River and kept on the south side of the 

 Canadian boundary, flowing eastward to the parched, fertile lands of 

 the Milk River valley. 



The surveys have not yet been brought to completion, but it is 

 probable that several hundred thousand acres can be irrigated at a 

 cost not prohibitory, providing homes for thousands of families. 



In the extreme south it has been shown that reservoirs can be- 

 foul It on the Gila River, storing up the flood water for the public lands 

 and for the supply of the Indian tribes residing along this stream. 



