266 



THE IKKIGATION AGE. 



Government Irrigation Work 



HUNTLEY, MONTANA 



This project has reclaimed about 30,000 acres of 

 land located along the south bank of the Yellowstone 

 Eiver, in southeastern Montana. These lands lie be- 

 tween Huntley, at the junction of the Northern Pacific 

 and Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroads and Bull 

 Mountain Station, on the Northern Pacific Railway; 

 these lines affording the best of transportation facilities. 

 No farm in the project is more than two and one-half 

 miles from a shipping point. 



As these lands are a part of the ceded strip of the 

 Crow Indian reservation, settlers will be required to pay 

 $4 per acre to the Indians, one dollar at the time of 

 entry and seventy-five cents annually for four years. In 

 addition to this, the Government will charge the settler 

 the cost of building the irrigation works, $30 per acre, 

 payable $3 per acre per annum, for ten years; the pay- 

 ments may be made in five years if desired. The first 

 payment of $4.60 per acre will become due when the land 

 is filed upon. 



The farm units vary from 40 to 80 acres, depending 

 upon the location, and average 40 acres of irrigable land. 

 Irrigated land in this section is worth from $75 to $200 

 per acre according to the state of cultivation and the 

 crops grown. There are eight towns on the project at 

 intervals of about five miles along the lines of railroad, 

 and no farm under the project is more than three miles 

 from one of these shipping points. Settlers are coming 

 rapidly, and more than 200 have already began to im- 

 prove their .entries. There are about 300 farms open to 

 settlement at this time. For details as to location and 

 other information, address Project Engineer, Huntley, 

 Mont. 



The early history of this portion of Montana is 

 noteworthy and interesting. The Yellowstone River was 

 followed by Captain Clarke of the Lewis and Clarke 

 expedition on his return from Oregon, and the Huntley 

 project is especially honored in having Pompey's Pillar, 

 which was one of the remarkable landmarks noted by 

 the explorer and which has his name scratched on one 

 of the rock faces under date of July 25, 1806. The 

 pillar is a rock formation about 300 feet across, 150 feet 

 high, and across the river from the bluffs. Pompey's 

 Pillar stands with nearly vertical faces at the edge of 

 the flat valley lands, and from its top a good view is 

 had over the project lands and surrounding country. 



After Clarke, the Yellowstone was a regular route 

 of the Indian traders, trappers and pioneers from the 

 Missouri. Later, steamboats made regular trips to the 

 mouth of the Big Horn River, 50 miles below Huntley. 

 and in a few instances as far as Huntley, at the mouth 

 of Pryor Creek. Pryor Creek and the Pryor Mountains 

 were named for a member of Captain Clarke's party. 

 There were many exciting skirmishes with the Indians 

 in this part of the state, and the scene of Ouster's last 

 fight on the Little Big Horn is visited by many people 

 each season. 



The preliminary surveys for the Huntley project 

 were made in 1904; plans were developed during the 

 following winter, and the first contracts advertised in 

 the spring of 1905. The season of 1905 was occupied 

 for the most part in location surveys, although some 

 construction work was begun. In the spring of 1906, 



the Huntley flat presented an appearance of industry. 

 There were contractors' camps, men, horses and machin- 

 ery from one end to the other; 400 to 500 men were 

 working for the various contractors and an engineering 

 corps of 30 to 40 men was engaged in laying out the 

 work, making up estimates for payment, and keeping 

 accounts showing the cost and distribution of the work. 

 The irrigation works are now all completed, and the 

 forces of men and outfits have been succeeded by settlers 

 who already far outnumber the contractors' men. Houses 

 are going up all over the project, land is being broken 

 by horses and steam plows, and water is running in all 

 of the canals to the highest point on each unit farm, 

 awaiting only the settlers' pleasure to run out over the 

 land and insure bountiful crops. 



The Huntley main canal is about 23 miles long, 

 the heaviest work being on the first division, where three 

 tunnels are necessary. The tunnels are 9.2 feet wide and 

 9 feet high inside, and are lined with concrete through- 

 out. The canal at Huntley carries about 400 cubic feet 

 of water per second, being a stream 6 feet deep, 20 feet 

 wide on the bottom and 38 feet wide at the surface. The 

 headworks, leading directly to tunnel No. 1, are designed 

 to take water from the bottom of the river if necessary, 

 and are of massive steel reinforced concrete. Practically 

 all important structures on the main canal are of this 

 construction. 



Just below Ballantine, there is a drop in the main 

 canal of 33% feet, the power possibilities of which are 

 availed of by the installation of a pumping plant. The 

 machinery consists of two units, each comprising a ver- 

 tical turbine with a centrifugal pump mounted on the 

 same shaft and delivering water against a 50-foot head 

 to the high line canal. 



The project is divided into farm units containing 

 from 30 to 160 acres total, of which 30 to 80 acres arc 

 irrigable land and the balance adjacent pasture or wood- 

 land wherever possible up to a total of 160 acres. The 

 only wood lots are along the river, but most of the pas- 

 ture land is along the main canal, where the farms can 

 be extended above the irrigated ground. The lateral sys- 

 tem is constructed to deliver water to the highest point 

 of every farm, so that the whole system may go into op- 

 eration this season if required and without delay or any 

 canal construction by the new settlers. 



The lands can be taken by homestead entry and 

 commutation is not allowed, but soldiers and sailors 

 may have their term of service deducted. There will be 

 a building charge of $30 per acre, payable in not less 

 than five nor more than ten annual installments, without 

 interest, and an annual maintenance charge. This charge 

 is 60 cents per acre the first year, and it is expected 

 that it will be materially reduced in subsequent years. 

 There is also a charge of $4 per acre for the land, pay- 

 able $1 on filing and $3 in four equal annual install- 

 ments beginning at the end of the second year, this for 

 the benefit of the Crow Indians. Thus, a total first pay- 

 ment of $4.60 per acre is required at the time of filing. 

 When the payments have all been made, the management 

 of the canal system will be turned over to the water 

 users, who will thenceforth operate and maintain it. 



The feasibilitv of an extension of the main canal 



