36 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



ROUTT COUNTY, COLORADO. 



Rich in Mineral and Agricultural Products Makes Ex- 

 hibit at Exposition. 



Experts from Grand valley, Colorado, and from other 

 sections where fruit raising is conducted as a business, 

 have predicted for many years that the Little Snake River 

 valley, in Routt county, Colorado, would be a fruit coun- 

 try, but until this year no results have been obtained in 

 a definite way to bear out these predictions. 



The fruit which has been grown this year in parts of 

 the valley demonstrates beyond any question that the 

 Little Snake River valley will produce fruits of every 

 kind in great abundance, and very fine in quality and size. 

 No attempt has been made so far to grow peaches, but 

 apples, pears and plums, as well as small fruits, are all 

 doing well. 



Routt county is the extreme northwest county of 

 Colorado. It covers about 7,000 square miles, and it has 



up, and with the advent of the Moffat road and the other 

 lines which are now projected for that county, farm lands 

 in all sections of the county will undoubtedly greatly 

 enhance in value. 



There are several large irrigation projects now under 

 way in the county. One of the largest of these, a mon- 

 ster irrigation development work which will do for north- 

 western Colorado what the Twin Falls irrigation project 

 has done for Idaho, is now in progress in the Little Snake 

 River valley, in Routt county, Colorado, where 50,000 

 acres of land on either side of the river are being re- 

 claimed by the Routt County Development Company, with 

 headquarters in Denver, Colo., under the Carey Land Act. 



The land and perpetual water rights are sold to set- 

 tlers for $35 an acre, one-tenth cash and ten years for 

 the balance. The price is fixed by the Carey Land Act 

 and the State Board of Land Commissioners. The canal 

 system is being constructed under the general supervision 

 of the state engineer of Colorado. 



The Little Snake River valley is reached now from 

 the Union Pacific Railroad from Wamsutter, Wyo. The 



r 



An Oat Field Irrigated by the Canal of the Routt County Development Company. Oats in This Field Threshed Ninety T ashels to the Acre. 



been correctly stated that the county contains every nat- 

 ural resource necessary to sustain a community without 

 any outside aid. Much has been said and written about 

 the coal fields of Routt county. These are indeed very 

 extensive. There is a world of wealth hidden beneath 

 the surface of this rich section of the country, including 

 gold, silver, lead, copper and iron, as well as coal. The 

 coal fields cover more than 1,000 square miles and are 

 said to contain more coal than the entire state of Penn- 

 sylvania. The coal veins vary in thickness from three to 

 twelve feet. 



It is not, however, in the mineral possibilities of this 

 section that its greatest wealth lies. Routt county is 

 destined to be the greatest agricultural county of Colo- 

 rado, and with the development of other industries which 

 go hand in hand with agriculture, it will, in the next 

 ten years, be the greatest wealth producing section of the 

 West. Its soil is suitable for the growing of all kinds 

 of grains, grasses, alfalfa, vegetables and root crops, 

 including sugar beets, small fruits and tree fruits of every 

 description, except possibly the most delicate. 



Many people have formed their impression of Routt 

 county from a short visit to the eastern section of the 

 county, and while the agricultural possibilities there are 

 very great, the climate in other sections of the county is 

 probably less severe and perhaps equally if not better 

 adapted for general farming. 



The lands around Steamboat Springs, Hayden, Craig 

 and Maybell are now selling at from $35 to $45 per acre 



upper end of the tract is about forty-five miles from 

 Wamsutter. The land can be reached over the "Moffatt 

 Road" from Steamboat Springs and Craig. It can be 

 reached over the Rio Grande by stage or wagon route 

 from Rifle, Colo., via Meeker and Craig, or from Wolcott, 

 via Steamboat Springs and Craig. The larger part of 

 the tract is from fifteen to twenty-five miles from the 

 established line of the Denver, Northwestern & Pacific 

 Railroad (Moffat Road), which is surveyed through Lay 

 and Maybell, just south of the lands under the Little 

 Snake River canal. The survey for the branch of the 

 Union Pacific Railroad from Wamsutter, Wyo., to Craig, 

 Colo., also runs within a few miles of all the land. It 

 has been positively announced that the Union Pacific ex- 

 tension into the valley will be completed next year. The 

 Moffat Road is completed to Steamboat Springs and will 

 be pushed on to Utah next year. 



Further particulars concerning the land which can 

 be taken up under the Carey Act in this valley can be 

 secured from the Routt County Colonization Company, 

 1734 Welton street, Denver, Colo. 



This company will have a display at the United States 

 Land and Irrigation Exposition at the Coliseum, Chicago, 

 November 20 to December 4, occupying spaces Nos. 1, 

 2 and 6, Division L. Mr. C. E. Wantland or Mr. -Warren 

 R. Given, representing this company, will be at the Audi- 

 torium Annex during the show. The company also has 

 a Chicago office at 910 Marquette building and at 946, 

 115 Adams street. 



