THE IRKIGATION AGE. 



179 



being constructed at the present time and contracts have 

 been let for a great many more. 



Business in all lines is thriving and the people are 

 prosperous. There are splendid openings here for any line 

 of business. The town is especially in need of an up-to- 

 date steam laundry and the citizens are ready and willing 

 at any time to pledge a sufficient amount of business to 

 justify the investment of necessary capital. 



The reason for this remarkable growth on the part of 

 Shoshone is very easily explained. Large tracts of land in 

 the Snake River Valley are being settled up and put in cul- 

 tivation under the immense irrigation systems. Land 

 which has heretofore been considered worthless desert is 

 now being irrigated and is recognized as one of the finest 

 agricultural sections in the west. Lincoln county alone 

 has about 750,000 acres which will shortly be watered by 

 these immense irrigation systems. Professor Holden, the 

 great corn expert of the Iowa Agricultural College, visited 

 this section in October, 1908, and gave out the follow- 

 ing interview: 



"You may say for me that southern Idaho is the ideal 

 place for the young man who is looking to make a start 

 in life. Every acre of irrigable land in this section is 

 worth, in yield or income, three times as much as the best 

 land in Illinos or Iowa." 



Your correspondent talked with men who went there 

 three years ago with little or nothing and are now worth 

 $10.000 to $30,000. 



To th.e eastern farmer, living on high-priced land, hav- 

 ing two or three sons, knowing they cannot all farm the 

 home place, and wondering what is to be done, southern 

 Idaho is recommended. The renter or the. man with little 

 money who cannot buy $100 to $125 land in Iowa, Illi- 

 nois and other eastern states, is advised to purchase 

 southern Idaho irrigated land while it can be had at pres- 

 ent prices. 



A large amount of this irrigated land is directly trib- 

 utary to Shoshone. Some of these tracts have already 

 been opened for settlement either under the Carey Act or 

 the United States Government Reclamation Act. Part of 

 the land will be thrown open for settlement in the spring 

 of 1909. Shoshone is better located than any other town 

 as a point from which to look over these irrigated lands, 

 and for that reason an exceedingly large amount of trans- 

 fer business is transacted there and this will continue for 

 the next two or three years. 



Shoshone has a wide-awake commercial club com- 

 posed of the leading business men in the community. 

 They will be glad to furnish all parties with information 

 concerning Shoshone and the surrounding country. Write 

 to them for information about this matter, or, better still, 

 go out and look over the field for yourself and have a 

 talk with the business men regarding the advantages of 

 locating at Shoshone. 



Reclamation Service News 



The Secretary of the Interior has just issued instruc- 

 tions to the General Land Office which removes a diffi- 

 culty that has been met in connection with entries under 

 the Reclamation Act. In a circular of the General Land 

 Office issued January 18, 1908, provision is made that 

 after the requirements of the homestead law as to resi- 

 dence and cultivation have been complied with, the entry- 

 man or his heirs may make final proof of compliance with 

 these requirements, after which he will be relieved of the 

 necessity of residing upon the land. 



The question arose whether after having made such 

 proof the entryman could assign his interest in the land 

 without forfeiting his right to a patent. 



It has now been decided that patent will issue in the 

 name of the original entryman in the usual manner, after 

 such final proof has been made, and upon proof that at 

 least one-half of the irrigable area of the entry is finally 

 adjusted has been reclaimed, and upon payment to the 

 proper officials of the government of the charges, fees and 

 commissions which are due. 



This communication contains the direct statement that 

 so far as the department is concerned no legal objection 



will be raised to the assignment of the right of an entry- 

 man who has just made five year final proof, and that such 

 assignment would seem to convey all the entryman's in- 

 terest in the land, including the right of the assignee to a 

 complete title by carrying out the additional requirements 

 imposed by the Reclamation Law. 



This order of the Secretary puts the reclamation 

 homestead entries upon the same basis as original home- 

 stead entries in regard to assignments after final proof, 

 and will thus remove one great difficulty that has been 

 felt in some of the projects. 



The Secretary of the Interior has received from the 

 Burns Commercial club of Oregon a request that the Rec- 

 lamation Service immediately take steps to demonstrate 

 the existence of an artesian flow in Harney county, by 

 sinking wells at central points in the several valleys, so 

 that individual home-makers may have reasonably sure 

 knowledge of the depth necessary to go for such water 

 and of the amount to be found when reached. The resolu- 

 tion called attention to the fact that the state of Oregon 

 has been a very heavy contributor to the Reclamation 

 Fund and that circumstances have prevented the state from 

 receiving its proportionate share in reclamation work. 

 It is further stated that the artesian supply is the only 

 visible source of water for reclamation purposes upon 

 which settlers in Harney county can base a hope of per- 

 manent success. 



Similar petitions have been transmitted to the depart- 

 ment by Governor Chamberlain, together with a number 

 of requests of like character from all parts of the arid 

 West, which in the aggregate are so extensive that the 

 entire Reclamation Fund would be necessary if these pe- 

 titions were acceded to. 



In reply to the petition of the Burns Commercial 

 club, Secretary Garfield recalled the fact that on March 3, 

 1903, it was decided that the reclamation fund could not 

 be used for the purpose of drilling artesian wells for ex- 

 ploration. Such wells may be paid for from the Reclama- 

 tion Fund, only in cases where there is sufficient knowl- 

 edge in advance to make it probable that the water will 

 be obtained therefrom in such quantities as could be used 

 for the irrigation of lands, with the probability that the 

 cost of the work will be returned to the Reclamation 

 Fund. 



One of the most attractive units of the general Ya- 

 kima project is that which it is proposed to develop in 

 the former Yakima Indian reservation, a part of which 

 congress, by the Act of December 24, 1904, ordered to be 

 opened to settlement after proper allotment, classification 

 and appraisement of the lands. 



By a subsequent act of March 6, 1906, congress made 

 specific provisions for the working out of a reclamation 

 project upon the reservation. Among other things this 

 act provides that the Secretary of the Interior may, with 

 the consent of the Indian allottees, sell the part of their 

 allotments in excess of twenty acres. Subsequent general 

 litigation has authorized the sale of the entire allotment 

 if the Indian allottee so desires. The proceeds of these 

 sales are to be used for the benefit of the Indian first, in 

 paying the charge under the reclamation Act for the irri- 

 gation of the area retained, and, second, for the individual 

 benefit of the Indian in case there is any surplus. 



After a long discussion in order to meet the many 

 complications arising from the situation, the Indian Office 

 and the Reclamation Service have reached a complete un- 

 derstanding as to the handling of this matter, as a result 

 of which the Secretary of the Interior has just approved 

 several forms of petition by the Indian allottees, the ob- 

 ject of which is to authorize the Secretary of the Interior 

 to dispose of their allotments in accordance with the terms 

 of the law. It is understood that the Indian Office is now 

 actively engaged in the preliminaries, and that field work 

 is about to be undertaken to place before the Indians the 

 great advantages which will accrue to them under this 

 arrangement. It is expected that the Indians will appre- 

 ciate the great opportunity offered to them to obtain high 

 prices for their lands and that petitions can be obtained 

 from a large proportion of the Indians. 



The necessities of the case so far as the conditions 

 under the Reclamation Act are concerned will require 

 that a considerable number of the Indians shall file these 

 petitions, as it is essential that the Reclamation Service 

 shall have definite assurance of the financial success of 



