THE IKRIGATION AGE. 



249 



TO IRRIGATE CROW RESERVATION. 



Custer Battlefield Within the Limits Over One Million Acres to 

 Be Reclaimed. 



NORTH YAKIMA, Jan. 2. The Crow Indian reser- 

 vation is one of the historic spots of the great North- 

 west. It has been brought to notice recently by the 

 fact that efforts are being made to have a large area 

 opened to settlers. A big tract, comprising 1,100,000 

 acres, will be set aside and given to home builders. 

 The Indians have no use for the lands. They occupy 

 all that their limited abilities can control. In the 

 years past these lands have been leased to cattlemen 

 for about two cents an acre per year. That condition 

 is about to change and farms will be carved from the 

 richest agricultural area in the Northwest. 



The Crows number about 1,800 men, women and 

 children. They live upon their allotments and hold 

 the lands in severalty. No Indian can transfer his 

 right to lands, but the tribe may consent to the sale 

 of that which is not considered advisable to retain. A 

 treaty has been made with the tribe and the large 

 area formerly leased for cattle grazing will be sold 

 to the Government. This will then be thrown open 

 for settlement under the homestead laws of the United 

 States. The citizens of the Yellowstone Valley are 

 elated over the prospect of having new neighbors. 



This reservation contains the historic Custer battle- 

 field, where Gen. George A. Custer and his command, 

 comprising a portion of the Seventh cavalry, fell on 

 June 25, 1876. The large battlefield has since been 

 fenced and dedicated as a soldier's cemetery. Over 

 1,000 graves, marked by white monuments, show the 

 resting places. Around the cemetery are fields of 

 alfalfa, wheat and potatoes, cultivated by the redmen 

 and their sons. A wonderful change has come over 

 the country. The cause for this is irrigation. 



Many irrigation canals have been constructed by 

 the Indians and their white friends. The Montana far- 

 mers are wealthy. Their lands are productive and 

 their flocks and herds yield good returns. The State 

 Commissioner of Agriculture reports that there are 

 13,370 farms in the State, producing an average income 

 of 20 per cent annually on the investment. 



The Yellowstone Valley has 383 of these farmers. 

 But they are not content to live alone. They want 

 others, from every land under the sun, to join them 

 and convert the once howling wilderness into a land 

 of orchards, gardens and vineyards. 



An irrigation canal is being constructed on the 

 north side of the Yellowstone River, overlooking the 

 Indian reservation. This great water carrier is to ex- 

 tend for fifty miles. It will be forty feet wide on top 

 and carry a volume of 500 cubic . feet per second, 

 making an artificial river five feet deep and forty feet 

 wide. A tract comprising 25,000 acres, owned by the 

 Billings Land & Irrigation Company, will be re- 

 claimed and put under cultivation next year. The canal 

 will become the property of the people, after all rights 

 are sold and handled on the co-operative plan. 



Twenty-five years ago this country was almost un- 

 known except to the painted warriors and soldiers. 

 Now it is crossed by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy 

 and the Northern Pacific railroads. Tourists may look 

 out from the windows of the Burlington and gaze on 

 the famous field of the Custer battle. The only evi- 

 dences of former barbarism are occasional glimpses of 



Indian veterans wrapped in their blankets, or blackened 

 tepees from which emit the curling smoke sending up 

 its messages of peace fr,om the squaws and papooses 

 who are happy because their tribe is no longer at war. 



JOEL SHOMAKER. 



William Henry Jaques, a gentle- 

 man prominent in irrigation affairs,, 

 is shown in accompanying half- 

 tone. His home is at Little Boar's 

 Head, N. H. 



We show herewith miniature half- 

 tone of Hon. John Hall, vice-presi- 

 dent of the Twelfth National Irri- 

 gation Congress. He formerly lived 

 at Syracuse, Kan., but is now mak- 

 ing his home at Lampasas, Tex. 

 Mr. Hall has always taken an act- 

 ive interest in irrigation affairs and 

 will no doubt appear prominently 

 in the deliberations of the national 

 congress to be held at El Paso in November of this year. 



THE LEFFEL NEW CATALOGUE. 



The new catalogue of engines and boilers made by 

 James Leffel & Co., of Springfield, Ohio, is a book that 

 will interest many of our readers. It should interest 

 anyone who has to do with steam power. This book 

 goes into the matter of the making of Leffel engines 

 and boilers, and shows on what their superiority is 

 based. The book is well gotten up, printed on heavy 

 enameled paper, has numerous full-page and many 

 smaller illustrations, and is filled with just such de- 

 tailed information about engines and boilers as to make 

 it truly valuable to those using or contemplating using 

 an engine or boiler. The book will be mailed free to 

 prospective buyers of an engine or boiler, stating wants 

 and addressing the company as above. 



ARTHUR E. MORGAN, 

 HYDRAULIC ENGINEER, 



Drainage, Irrigation, Sewerage, Water Supply 

 Topographical Surveying, 



ST. CLOUD, 



MINN. 



GINSENG 



OZARK 



Fortunes in this plant. Easily grown. Roots 

 and seeds for sale. Room in your garden. 

 Plant in Fall. Booklet and Magazine, * cents. 

 CO., DEPT. Y-21, - - - JOPLIN, MO. 



Two Dollars will secure for you one year's subscription to 

 THE IRRIGATION AGE and a finely bound volume of the Primer 

 of Irrigation which will be sent postpaid in a few months, 

 when volume Is completed. The Primer of Irrigation will be 

 finely Illustrated and will contain about 300 pages. Send post 

 office or express money order for $1.00 and secure copy of first 

 edition. 







