242 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



the more desirable, therefore, that these changes should 

 be made with due regard to the rights of those now 

 living in the country to be irrigated, and with due con- 

 sideration of the benefits to be derived by the nation 

 as a whole. Although there are immense areas, ex- 

 % as the irrigable area, there are some of them bordering 

 *'on these lands and some removed therefrom, still vaster 

 areas (approximately 500,000,000 acres) to which no 

 water can be artificially brought. That these lands, in 

 addition to the irrigated lands, may be made of the 

 fullest value to the nation is one of the problems our 

 legislative bodies have to face. It is not strictly a 

 problem of irrigation, but it is a problem so closely 

 united thereto that irrigationists may well consider it. 

 It is a mere axiom to say that the ranchers and 

 stock raisers were the men who made the arid and semi- 

 arid regions of this country what they are today. Had 

 it not been for them the plains now given over to flocks 

 and herds might still be hunting grounds of irresponsi- 

 ble and sometimes dangerous Indians. When first the 

 stockman, taking his life in his hands, invaded the un- 

 known region between the Missouri and the Rocky 

 Mountains, he was alone with his herd in a vast and 

 unknown country. His cattle, sheep and horses could 

 graze at will, without let or hindrance from any man, 

 assured that the buffalo and the red man, then the 

 only other denizens of that country, would leave him 

 unmolested, in so far that is a guarantee of sufficient 

 food for his live stock was concerned, though his own 

 life might be and often was in danger. As time went 

 on the country began to settle up, the Indians and 

 buffalos were driven further and further into the back- 

 ground, until today the buffalos are extinct and the red 

 men rapidly becoming so. The feeding grounds of the 

 one and the hunting grounds of the other have become 

 the center of one of the greatest industries of this coun- 

 try ; but with the change has come a change in the con- 

 ditions surrounding the growing of live stock. The 

 rancher himself is reasonably safe in life and limb, but 

 every year it is becoming harder for him to assure his 

 flocks and his herds the feed which alone can make them 

 profitable. The original pioneer has become surrounded 

 by competitors, none with superior but all with equal 

 rights to his own. The result has been that the range, 

 once amply sufficient for the grazing of his animals, has 

 become, or at least is rapidly becoming, insufficient. It 

 is now by no means an uncommon thing for the rancher 

 with a few hundred sheep or a small herd of cattle to 

 graze his flocks on the high grounds during the summer 

 and have picked out in his mind some convenient land 

 continguous to his home ranch on which they are to be 

 fed in the winter. By the time winter comes, however, 

 some other rancher's stock has grazed over this land, 

 leaving the first man either to buy feed or to go further 

 afield in search of that free range on which he has been 

 accustomed to rely. 



This state of things has led to many serious 

 breaches of the existing land laws of the country. Large 

 areas of the public domain have been placed under 

 fence by those without legal title to them. Clashes 

 have occurred in some instances between armed forces 

 representing different ranchers anxious to utilize the 

 same portion of the range. A condition has arisen 

 which, in our opinion, calls for immediate change in 

 the existing land laws. The rancher may not buy public 

 lands, he may take his homestead, and must then stand 



his chance of finding grazing grounds for his flocks and 

 herds in a country which for live stock raising under 

 modern conditions is in many instances already over- 

 crowded. If the present state of things is allowed to go 

 on the amount of public lands illegally fenced will in- 

 crease annually, the amount of land available for irri- 

 gation purposes under the terms of the Reclamation 

 Act will be annually circumscribed. The amount of 

 land which can never be used for anything but ranch 

 purposes, but which lies contiguous to irrigable lands 

 and should, if it is to be made of the greatest posible 



A Tunnel Through Moutitain for Delivery of Water for Irrigation. 



value, be made appurtenant to such irrigable lands, is 

 also rapidly disapearing. The problem we face is to 

 preserve these lands so that they may eventually be 

 made of the fullest possible benefit to the public and 

 also to provide the rancher while he exists under modern 

 conditions with reasonable safeguards for the proper 

 prosecution of his industry. 



The Canadian government has frequently proved 

 its wisdom by the care and thoroughness with which it 

 has profited by the experiences of this country. The 

 Canadian West is in many respects similar to the ranch- 

 ing states of this country, and the problems presented 

 by the one are very largely presented by the other. 

 The Canadian government has solved the land question. 



