THE IKEIGATION AGE. 



213 



Eighteenth National Irrigation Congress 



Pueblo Is Enthusiastic Governing Board's Early Organization Publicity Campaign 

 Given Vigorous Impetus Sketch of New Officials. 



What is confidently expected to be the greatest ses- 

 sion of the National Irrigation Congress will be held at 

 Pueblo, Colorado, in the very heart of the irrigated West, 

 September 26-30, 1910. 



Active preparation for the Eighteenth Congress has 

 begun. The Pueblo Board of Control organized and 

 started active work at an earlier date than any of its 

 predecessors. Since opening its offices in the Central 

 block, Pueblo, early in November thousands of letters to 

 all parts of the country have been written; and tens of 

 thousands of pieces of mail in the form of little docu- 

 ments calling attention to the congress, to Pueblo, to the 

 famous Arkansas valley, and to the State of Colorado, 

 have been scattered broadcast over the country. 



The board is well organized, P. J. Dugan being chair- 

 man; A. G. Watson, vice-chairman; and R. H. Faxon of 

 Garden City, Kansas, secretary. The board took its sec- 

 retary from put of town for the reason that Mr. Faxon 

 had been active in the Pueblo campaigns at Albuquerque 

 in 1908 and at Spokane in 1909; because he was a news- 

 paperman; and because he was a resident of the Arkansas 

 valley, whose capital is Pueblo. 



The Board' of Governors of the congress met at 

 Pueblo in January and reviewed the preliminary work 

 done up to that date by the Board of Control, approved 

 the dates selected, and outlined a great deal of useful 

 work. The paid secretary of the congress, Arthur Hooker, 

 who had been secretary of the Spokane Board of Control, 

 removed to Pueblo with his files and his large fund of 

 experience in January of this year, and is himself actively 

 at work. The Board of Governors plans to hold several 

 meetings at Pueblo prior to the time the Eighteenth 

 Congress will convene. 



Pueblo was an admirable selection for the Eighteenth 

 Congress for the reason that it is in a state that has paid 

 attention from the beginning to irrigation and fully ap- 

 preciates the work of reclamation. Colorado has upwards 

 of 20,000 miles of irrigation canals and laterals; more 

 than three and one-half million acres of irrigated lands; 

 16 beet sugar mills making sufficient sugar to take care 

 of the average daily consumption of the country for 

 thirteen consecutive days; and thousands of acres of 

 alfalfa, fruit, and truck, all grown under irrigation. 



Pueblo is the capital of the wonderful irrigated 

 Arkansas valley, extending from Canon, in Colorado, to 

 Garden City, in Kansas, having more than one-half mil- 

 lion acres under irrigation; seven beet sugar mills, one 

 at Garden City. Kansas, costing a million dollars and 

 being the finest in the West; and has one county, Fremont. 

 that last year produced an even million dollars worth of 

 apples, and another, Otero, that produced an even million 

 in the famous Rockvford cantaloupes. In the Pueblo 

 district, there were shipped out, last year, in celery, 125 

 cars, after local consumption was taken care of. All this 

 is under irrigation, and shows the tremendous importance 

 of reclamation in the territory appurtenant to Pueblo. In 

 addition to this, about one-half million acres is ready 

 to be brought under irrigation, at a cost of approxi- 

 mately 15 millions of dollars. 



Pueblo is a great, growing city of 60,000 inhabitants. 

 It has long been known as "The Pittsburg of the West," 

 because of its importance as a leading industrial center. 

 It has the finest steel works west of Pittsburg, and great 

 smelting plants. It has eight railroads, and is on the 

 great Gould transcontinental system, the Missouri Pacific 

 ending there and the Rio Grande beginning. Pueblo has 

 sometimes been called "The Gateway to the Mountain- 

 West," and very aptly. Coal fields in abundance lie at 

 the very door of Pueblo. 



But Pueblo has not been content in recent years to 

 be known as an industrial, manufacturing, and railroad 

 center. It early recognized the great agricultural develop- 

 ment of the West, and as a result Pueblo will soon be as 

 famous as an agricultural center as for its industrial 

 importance. 



Pueblo is geographically situated admirably for 

 holding a great event like the Eighteenth National Irri- 

 gation Congress. On the east side of the Great Divide, 

 it is immediately accessible to the Middle West and to 

 the East, which latter region is more and more attending 

 the annual sessions. On the other hand, it is compar- 

 atively near at hand to the Pacific West, the great South- 

 west, and the Northwest country, all of which sections 

 are always represented fully in the National Irrigation 

 Congress. 



The international phase of the National Irrigation 

 Congress is receiving much attention at the hands of the 

 Pueblo Board of Control. Dr. E. McQueen Gray of 

 Albuquerque, New Mexico, foreign secretary, early was 

 clothed with proper credentials and full authority from 

 the Board of Control, and has entre to all foreign capitals 

 and the Department of S'tate at Washington. He has 

 already made one trip to Washington and is planning 

 another. He is in direct touch with foreign departments, 

 and thinks he will certainly secure thirty or more foreign 

 representatives for the Pueblo sessions. Among these he 

 hopes to have James Bryce, the British ambassador, and 

 either the head or an important official of the French 

 Department of Public Works. 



There will also be held in connection with the con- 

 gress a great exposition of pumping machinery, building 

 and structural material, and a display of model irrigation 

 ditches and plants. This will be international, and scores 

 of inquiries are coming in to the Board of Control for 

 information. The engineers' society the Arkansas Valley 

 Society of Arts and Sciences ris taking a leading part in 

 planning this feature of the congress. 



There is every indication that the Eighteenth Na- 

 tional Irrigation Congress at Pueblo in September next 

 will far eclipse all its predecessors. 



PRESIDENT BENJAMIN A. FOWLER. 



Benjamin A. Fowler, of Phoenix, Arizona, president 

 of the National Irrigation Congress, was born at Stone- 

 ham, Massachusetts, December 14, 1843, and was educated 

 at Phillips Academy, Andover, class of 1862, and Yale, 

 class of 1868. 



In 1862-3, Mr. Fowler served in the Fiftieth Massa- 

 chusetts Volunteers, joined General Bank at New York, 

 was there detailed for special service in the United States 

 signal corps, and was sent to the Department of the Gulf. 

 He was before Port Hudson from the beginning until 

 its surrender, in July, 1863, and participated in most of 

 the battles of that campaign. 



Mr. Fowler taught school one year at Danvers, Massa- 

 chusetts, and studied law one year, following his grad- 

 uation from Yale in 1868. From 1870 until 1898, he was 

 in business, subscription and publishing, in Boston, New 

 York and Chicago. 



Mr. Fowler came West in March, 1899, locating in 

 the Salt River valley near Phoenix, Arizona. In 1901 he 

 was a member of the Arizona Legislature. In 1904 he 

 was the Republican nominee for delegate in Congress. 



Mr. Fowler has been president of the Arizona Agri- 

 cultural Association, president of the Phoenix Board of 

 Trade, president of the Associated Charities of Phoenix, 



