276 



THE IRKIGATION AGE. 



it possible for each to hold his land and to make a com- 

 fortable living until prosperity should smile on him 

 through the aid of irrigation. Since it would take con- 

 siderable capital to construct the required irrigation 

 system, there seemed but one solution to the problem, 

 and that was to induce some company of sufficient funds 

 to construct the required works on condition that perma- 

 nent water rights and a share in irrigation works be 

 sold to the farmers at a reasonable price, the terms of 

 payment to be such as the farmers would be able to 

 meet, and the settlers given employment on the con- 

 struction work. With this plan in view, Mr. Johnston 

 tried to secure permits from the honorable secretary of 

 the interior for a number of responsible parties to make 

 surveys on the reservation, so that each could plan a 

 system for the irrigation of all lands susceptible of 

 reclamation. The honorable secretary refused all per- 

 mits on the ground that if one person were given per- 

 mission to enter the reservation, all would have to be 

 extended the same privilege. After conferring with the 

 governor and other state officers, Mr. Johnston went to 

 Washington, D. C., in January, and after three weeks 

 of hard work secured permission for the state to make 

 the surveys. He at once returned and began making 

 preparations for sending surveying parties into the 

 field. The state legislature had not foreseen this prob- 

 lem, so, of course, had made no appropriation for the 

 work. The only method by which the necessary funds 

 could be raised was to borrow the money, which Mr. 

 Johnston did, giving his personal note. On the first of 

 March three parties were sent into the field, and the 

 surveys are being rapidly made. 



In an article to the newspapers Mr. Johnston has 

 explained his plans as follows: "The surveys now in 

 progress will locate the necessary canals and reservoirs 

 and designate the irrigable lands. We will furnish the 

 honorable commissioner of the general land office with 

 maps showing the location of these works, and the 

 people who settle will be informed as to which tracts 

 will be irrigated. We will work up all plans and speci- 

 fications here, and these will be submitted to parties 

 who desire to invest in irrigation works on the reserva- 

 tion during the summer. Bids accompanied with certi- 

 fied check for $10,000 will be received by me, and the 

 party which offers to construct all works under contract 

 with the state will receive the permits from this office. 

 The cost of the surveys will be deducted from the certi- 

 fied check of $10,000. The successful bidder will have 

 to put up a guarantee that the work will be constructed 

 in a certain time and in accordance with the plans and 

 specifications we make. 



'Tinder this plan the people who settle will secure 

 water rights at the lowest price that can be obtained 

 through competitive bidding. The state will guarantee 

 that the irrigation works will be of the best, and yet the 

 state will not have to pay a cent toward the cost of sur- 

 veying or making the necessary plans and specifications. 

 It means much work for me in addition to that which 

 we already have, but I will be glad to give all of my 

 evenings, holidays and Sundays to the work, if necessary. 



"All correspondence relating to these surveys is 

 now in the office, a matter of public record and any 

 one can read the letters at any time. The plans and 

 specifications will be public property, and any person 

 who wishes to submit a bid in good faith can do so. 

 The bids will be opened before all the witnesses who 



desire to be present, and public notice will be given of 

 the result of the bidding." 



Too much credit can not be given one who saddles 

 onto himself additional work and responsibility for the 

 good of the state. Although overtaxed with official 

 work, as Mr. Johnston has been during the last few 

 years, he is and always has been ready and willing to 

 lend a hand in helping along any enterprise which would 

 result in the public's benefit. Many evenings, up to 

 eleven or twelve o'clock at night, and on holidays, he 

 can be found in his office laboring away at his official 

 duties or working with some committee on which he 

 has been appointed, planning for the good of the city 

 or the state. The state of Wyoming has always been 

 among the most progressive states in irrigation matters, 

 and through the wise appointments of her state engi- 

 neers she still promises to hold her lead for a few more 

 years at least. 



RECLAMATION SERVICE PERSONALS. 



Mr. Luke C. Robertson, of Austin, Texas, has received an 

 appointment as assistant engineer in the Reclamation Service 

 and has been directed to report at Montrose, Colorado, for 

 duty in connection with the Uncompahgre project. Mr. Rob- 

 ertson graduated at the University of Texas, and took an 

 additional three-years course in the engineering department 

 of that institution, holding the position of student assistant 

 during a portion of the time. He has recently been engaged 

 with the H. & T. C. railroad. 



Mr. John B. Stobo, of Greensboro, N. C., has received 

 an appointment in the Reclamation Service as assistant en- 

 gineer, and will report at Great Falls, Montana, for duty in 

 connection with the Sun River project. Mr. Stobo has been 

 engaged by the Erie Railroad as Transitman, and also by the 

 Southern Railway Company designing concrete-steel arch 

 bridges. 



Mr. Hugh T. Caldwell, of California, has received an 

 appointment as stenographer in the Reclamation Service by 

 transfer- from the Postoffice Department, and has been as- 

 signed to duty at Huntley, Montana, in connection with the 

 Huntley irrigation project. 



Mr. Walter N. Hill, of Berkeley, Cal., has received an 

 appointment as engineering aid in the United States Recla- 

 mation Service, and has been assigned to duty at Corbett, 

 Wyoming, in connection with the Shoshone project. Mr. Hill 

 attended the Wesleyan University, and has taken a course in 

 surveying in the Mining College of the University of Cali- 

 fornia. 



Mr. R. M. Packard, of Ithaca, N. Y., has been directed 

 to report to engineer R. S. Stockton, Huntley, Montana, for 

 duty in connection with the Huntley irrigation project. Mr. 

 Packard, who is a student at Cornell University, has had 

 experience in hydrographic work for the United States Geo- 

 logical Survey. 



In connection with the co-operative work between the 

 United States Reclamation Service and the Department of 

 Agriculture, Prof. F. C. Miller, of the Forest Service, will 

 at once begin a study of the tree planting possibilities in the 

 North Platte irrigation project. 



The Bureau of Forestry will begin at once a thorough 

 study of the tree planting possibilities in that project in 

 co-operation with the work of the Reclamation Service on 

 the Truckee-Carson irrigation project, Nevada. The work 

 will be directed by Mr. E. O. Siecke. 



Mr. John C. Holmes, of Omaha, Neb., has received an 

 appointment as assistant engineer in the United States Recla- 

 mation Service, and will be assigned to duty on the Huntley 

 project, Montana. Mr. Holmes took the degree of civil en- 

 gineer at the University of Nebraska, and has had experience 

 in various capacities in surveying and designing tile drain 

 systems. He was formerly engaged as structural engineer by 

 the Des Moines Bridge and Iron Works, Des Moines, Iowa. 



