A WESTERN PROBLEM. 

 By R. H. Campbell 



In the southern portion of the Provinces of Alberta and 

 Saskatchewan is a large extent of prairie country, aggregating 

 45,000,000 acres, which has been the ranching district of the 

 West and, owing to its generally treeless condition and moderate 

 rainfall, the supply of wood and water are two questions of 

 great importance. The annual precipitation in the district will 

 average between fifteen and twenty inches, though in some 

 years and some parts it may be more or less. 



The most striking physical features of the district are the 

 Rocky Mountains, forming the western boundary, and the 

 Cypress Hills, which rise from the centre to a height of between 

 three and four thousand feet above the sea. The principal 

 rivers rising in the Rocky Mountains which flow through this 

 territory are the Red Deer, Bow, Little Bow, Oldman, Waterton, 

 Belly and St. Mary's, all of which unite finally to form the 

 South Saskatchewan. The headwaters of St. Mary's River are 

 in the United States and are the subject at present of inter- 

 national consideration. The Milk River, which flows for two 

 hundred miles through Canadian territory just north of the 

 international boundary, also has its source in the United States 

 and finally returns there, pouring its waters into the Missouri 

 drainage. These streams are fed from the rainfall and snowfall 

 of the lower foothills and wooded slopes, and have their final 

 sources in the perennial glaciers that form in the high mountain 

 valleys above the timber line. In the mountains these streams 

 flow through deep valleys, sometimes narrowing so as to leave 

 little more than room for the stream, sometimes widening out 

 so that the river wanders through the valley a narrow ribbon 

 of lighter color among the dark green of the forest, again closed 

 in by some bar of rock or gravel so as to hold back the waters 

 and form the beautiful lakes of translucent green which with 

 their varying hue form one of the most beautiful features of 

 Rocky Mountain scenery. 



As these streams flow out through the plains they groove 

 for themselves deep channels till they are flowing two to three 

 hundred feet below the level of the remainder of the country. 

 It thus follows that on the upper courses of the stream, where 

 the fall is steep, water may be taken out easily by small ditches 

 for irrigation or other purposes while in the lower courses it is 

 impossible to do so except by long and expensive canals of 

 large capacity demanding large capital and engineering skill 

 of a high order. 



18 



