34 WESTERN SUFREMACY. 



of the Colorado, witli Nevada and California on the west 

 and Arizona, on the east, is a region of great aridity. 

 Here date-palms, oranges, lemons, pomegranates, figs, 

 sugar and cotton flourish where water can be applied, 

 and "ultimatel}^ a region of country can be irrigated 

 larger than was ever cultivated along the Nile, and all 

 the products of Egypt will flourish therein." i 



The area in which occur, here and there, most of thfe 

 worthless lands of the West, is pyramidal in shape, the 

 base extending along the Mexican line into Texas, and 

 the apex being found in the northern part of Idaho. 

 That is, the proportion of useless lands decreases as . you 

 go north, until it seems to disappear entirely before 

 reaching the Northern Pacific Eailway. Mr. E. V. 

 Smalley, who, in the summer of 1882, ti'aveled the line 

 of that road before its completion, writes "^r "The whole 

 country traversed through the northern tier of terri- 

 tories, from Eastern Dakota to Washington, is a habit- 

 able region. For the entire distance every square mile 

 of the country is valuable either for farming, stock-rais- 

 ing, or timber-cutting. There is absolutely no waste land 

 between the vv^ell-settled region of Dakota and the new 

 wheat region of Washington Territory. Even on the 

 tops of the Rocky Mountains there is good pasturage ; 

 and the vast timber belt enveloping Clark's Foi'k and 

 Lake Pend d' Oreille, and the ranges of the Cabinet and 

 Coeur d'Alene Mountains is more valuable than an 

 equal extent of arable land." 



Much of the Rocky Mountain region is still unsur- 

 veyed. In the absence of exact knowledge, therefore, 

 we must rely on the estimates of Surveyor-Generals, 

 Governors, and others who have had opportunities to 

 form intelligent opinions concerning the available lands 

 of the West. In some cases official reports of surveys 

 have afforded accurate information ; but in most it has 



1 J. W. Powell, Director of the U. S. Geologica Survey, in The Century 

 for Marcli, 1890. 



2 The Century Magazine for October, 1882. 



